Woman Shares Warning After 'Cool Streak' Turned Out To Be Deadly

A TikToker had what she presumed was a harmless brown streak down her nail for 10 years, but when a friend urged her to get it checked, it turned out to be far more deadly.

Maria Sylvia took to TikTok to share her recent diagnosis and a warning to viewers, after a shocking turn of events transpired.

Sharing the initial diagnosis to the video platform, Sylvia captioned her post: "I wish I were joking lol but I have some awesome photos."

A picture of the streak in Sylvia's thumb sits behind the caption "Me: having this for 10 years, thinking it was a cool streak in my nail", as 'Gangnam Style' plays in the background.

The video cuts to a new screen as she reveals: "It's cancer."

In a follow-up video, Sylvia recounts her shocking experience and answers questions from viewers.

She tells of how she first noticed the faint streak in 2012.

She said: "It basically developed, almost, I wanna say in a year."

Being an athlete, Sylvia says that she was 'in and out of doctors all the time', but no one noticed it until 2014.

Sylvia recounts that they said of her strange streak: "Oh, that's odd but you don't really fit the demographic, so if it just grows any bigger you know go and see a doctor."

So, the TikToker didn't think much of the streak and assumed it was a mole in her nail bed.

Until, eventually, she got a biopsy done.

Sylvia said: "My friend Ruth pushed me to go do it, so I did it and it was January and it was, like, late January I found out it was a subungual melanoma case."

This, she explained, 'translates to cancer of under the nail.'

However, she was quick to reassure viewers that from a lot of cases she's seen on the internet of marks under nails tend to be moles.

In another video, Sylvia reiterated that while marks in your nails likely aren't melanoma, you should still 'see your doctor but for the most part you're probably fine'.

The type of cancer that Sylvia has is very rare and the treatment options available to her centre on surgery, and she ended up having a chunk of her finger removed.

In a comment replying to well wishes, Sylvia said: "Doing much better! I had my skin graft today so I’ll make a follow-up video soon."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week