It's been nine months since 24-year-old Elise Schunk lost her battle with melanoma, and the pain is still fresh for her family, who's been forced to move forward without the one they love.
"It's hard missing someone that you know you'll never see again," said her husband James Schunk. "You have to be strong and keep pulling through. You can't do it by yourself, you need friends and family to bring you up."
A day before her wedding last year, Elise shared her storyof strength with 7 Eyewitness News. Knowing it was too late for her, her main goal was to warn others about the possible consequences to not protecting your skin.
"To have cancer just because I thought tanning was cool....it's not worth it," Elise told us last year. "I'm going to lose my family, my fiance and it's not worth it."
Her family is everyday trying to cope with the loss of a loved one, all while keeping Elise's message alive.
"She didn't want any person to lost their sister, or their daughter and I think she would want everyone to know that being tan and careless is not worth it," said her sister Erin Hutchison. "It's so easy to just protect your skin like any other organ."
