“I’m still inspired”: Tributes for Clare Oliver 10 years on

Neil Mitchell and Dr Grant McArthur have paid tribute to anti-solarium campaigner Clare Oliver, 10 years on from her untimely death.

Clare was 26 when she died, after suffering from an aggressive melanoma linked to frequent solarium use.

She led a campaign to regulate the solarium industry in the weeks before she died.

“We need to remember Clare Oliver, remember why she was fighting and what she was fighting for,” Neil said.

In 2008 tougher regulations for solarium owners were passed and in 2015 commercial solariums were banned in Victoria.

Neil spoke with Clare regularly at the time and spoke at her funeral when she passed away.

“Life is too precious and it is too short,” Clare told Neil in 2007.

“All I can do is let my voice travel out and do something for people.”

Dr Grant McArthur, who treated Clare, reflected on the powerful message she delivered in the final weeks of her life.

“She had a clear purpose and she achieved it,” Dr McArthur said.

“I’m still personally inspired by what she was able to achieve.”

Click PLAY to hear Neil’s tribute and the full chat with Dr McArthur