Irish influencer Olivia Neill hits back at trolls who said she “deserved to get skin cancer”

Clodagh McKeon

Olivia revealed her diagnosis on TikTok

Irish TikToker and influencer, Olivia Neill took to TikTok at the weekend to tell fans about her devastating cancer diagnosis.

The Belfast native was diagnosed with skin cancer after getting a lump examined in hospital.

She uploaded a TikTok video on Sunday night telling her fans about the awful news but she quickly deleted it after receiving backlash in the comments.

She later posted a different video to her other TikTok account giving followers more details.

Olivia said: “I had a like lump, tumour in my arm and I got it removed and I got my results back and it’s skin cancer.”

The 21-year-old said she’s been diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer called Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP).

She said: “It’s really not that big of a deal like I just need to get it removed and then I’ll be fine hopefully.

“Nine out of 10 people that have it are born with a gene mutation. It’s not something you inherit either.”

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A post shared by Olivia Neill (@olivianeill)

People just assumed it was because of sun-beds..

She said: “I know when people say skin cancer, people immediately think melanoma.

“I don’t really know much about it. I do know that skin cancer can often be caused by UV exposure, like in the sun or in sun-beds.

“I go on holiday a lot, like I’ve been known to sizzle myself in the sun and sometimes I have been known to use sun-beds in my life, like it’s stupid.”

Olivia received a lot of negativity online following the announcement.

She said: “I started getting comments being like ‘Well you f***ing deserve it because you got sun-beds before’.

“To be honest, I probably shouldn’t have said anything on TikTok if I didn’t want people commenting and telling me that I deserve cancer because the internet is a scary place.

“Don’t do sun-beds and don’t sizzle yourself in the sun. We all know that’s not good for your skin.

“But also, get any lumps checked that you ever have. I also don’t think that anyone deserves to be told they deserve cancer.”

Olivia warned her followers to get themselves checked regularly.

Fellow Irish influencers including Lauren Whelan and Keelin Moncrieff flooded the comments to show their support.

Lauren Whelan commented: “Swear people think they’re doctors in the comments, it was not the time or place. Well done for being so open and vulnerable, so strong.”

Keelin Moncreiff said: “The negative reaction you received was disgraceful. As if you’re not suffering enough. Sending healing.”