text: The family of a Massachusetts woman who died from melanoma likely caused by her love of tanning are campaigning for a change to laws governing sunbeds. Glenna Kohl of Barnstable spent years in the sun as a Cape Cod lifeguard and countless hours laying in indoor tanning beds while at college. She was diagnosed with melanoma just after graduating from a Rhode Island college in 2005. Three years later, at just 26 years old, Glenna would be dead after a painful cancer battle. Now, her parents want the world to know the very real dangers posed by tanning even to the very young. Sad: Glenna Kohl of Barnstable spent years in the sun as a Cape Cod lifeguard and countless hours laying in indoor tanning beds while at college. She was diagnosed with melanoma just after graduating from a Rhode Island college in 2005 . Started in high school: Glenna was an avid tanner starting in high school and would sit in the sun some 40 hours per week every summer while working as a life guard in Cape Cod. In college, she tanned frequently in sun beds . Glenna was diagnosed with stage III melanoma after she found a golf ball sized lump in her groin just before graduating from college in 2005 . 'No one in our family knew what melanoma was,' Glenna's mother, Colleen Kohl, recalled to Cosmopolitan (via ELLE) 'We did a lot of crying.' The dreaded diagnosis came after Glenna, at just 22, discovered a golf ball-sized lump in her groin while working out at the gym one day. She would eventually see a doctor and get a biopsy. Physicians would trace the cancer back to a mole Glenna had removed years earlier, but which doctors had failed to identify as melanoma. By then, she already had stage III melanoma. But Glenna was prepared to fight. 'Whatever I have to do to fight cancer, I'll do,' her father Bob recalls his daughter saying. Because the cancer had spread to her lymphatic system, doctors removed 13 lymph nodes from her groin. Less than a year later, Glenna found a small lump in her abdomen and was told her cancer had progress to stage IV. Glenna was given more powerful drugs, but the cancer continued to spread. She tried experimental treatments with terrible side effects, but they were no use. Glenna died in November 2008, three years after her diagnosis--and her final tanning session. 'As health-conscious as Glenna was, she didn't connect tanning with skin cancer,' said Glenna's mother, who's now working to make sure others will make that connection before it's too late. 'Glenna's not here to inform people of the dangers,' Colleen told Cosmo. 'so we're going to continue her work for her.' Since their daughter's death, Colleen and Bob have launched the Glenna Kohl Fund for Hope in order to 'increase awareness of the Cape Cod community to the importance of early detection and prevention of melanoma and to support those fighting this deadly disease.' h/t YouTube/Maryellen Maguire-Eisen . Because the cancer had spread to her lymphatic system, doctors removed 13 lymph nodes from her groin. Less than a year later, Glenna found a small lump in her abdomen and was told her cancer had progress to stage IV . Glenna died in November 2008, three years after her diagnosis--and her final tanning session. Thanks in part to the group's efforts, the state of Massachusetts in 2014 passed a bill banning indoor tanning for those under 16 and requiring express consent from parents for those aged 16 or 17. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer with 9,000 people dying each year from the mostly preventable disease. The Melanoma Research Foundation says exposure to tanning beds before age 30 increases a person’s risk of developing melanoma by 75 percent. Doctors recommend doing regular skin checks for new moles and seeing a doctor if any change in size, shape or color. Doctors also recommend applying at least 1 ounce of sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or more to exposed skin and reapplying every two hours, more if swimming or sweating. Children in particular should be protected because bad sunburns in childhood are thought to greatly increase risk later in life. 'Glenna's not here to inform people of the dangers': Since their daughter's death, Colleen and Bob have launched the Glenna Kohl Fund for Hope in order to 'increase awareness of the Cape Cod community to the importance of early detection and prevention of melanoma and to support those fighting this deadly disease.' Thanks in part to the group's efforts, the state of Massachusetts in 2014 passed a bill banning indoor tanning for those under 16 and requiring express consent from parents for those aged 16 or 17.
target: Glenna Kohl was a Rhode Island college student in 2005 when she was diagnosed with stage III melanoma .
  Kohl had been a devotee to both indoor and outdoor tanning since she was a high school student and life guard in Massachusetts .
  Three years after her shocking diagnosis, Kohl died. Now her family is on a mission to educate young people about the dangers of tanning .