Venezuelan Beauty Queen Eva Ekvall Dies of Cancer at 28
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Eva Ekvall competes in the Miss Venezuela 2000 beauty contest in Caracas, Venezuela in this Sept. 9, 2000 file photo. (Fernando Llano/AP Photo)
Venezuelan beauty queen Eva Ekvall died this week at age 28 after a two-year battle with breast cancer.
Ekvall, who was crowned Miss Venezuela at age 17 in 2000, died Saturday to the dismay of thousands of Venezuelans who watched closely her fight against the illness, including a brief remission last year.
Diagnosed just six months after giving birth to her first child, a girl, Ekvall immediately became an outspoken proponent of cancer prevention and shared much of her battle with the illness publicly, according to El Nacional, a Venezuelan newspaper.
In 2010, Ekvall published a book, “Out of Focus,” about her struggle through treatment, which included photographs of her with her head shaved while going through chemotherapy.
“I hate to see photos in which I come out ugly,” Ekvall told El Nacional newspaper. “But you know what? Nobody ever said cancer is pretty or that I should look like Miss Venezuela when I have cancer.”
Ekvall, whose parents are Jamaican and American, died in Houston. She was married to a radio producer, John Fabio Bermudez, and had a 2-year-old daughter.
Thousands of Twitter messages were posted in the hours following the announcement of Ekvall’s death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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God bless her and her family.
Posted by: Kathy M. | December 20, 2011 December 20, 2011, 1:54 pm
i thought she was a Venezuelan beauty queen…how was she Venezuelan if her parents were Jamaican and American?….but it is very sad that her husband and daughter lost a wife and mother
Posted by: Donna | December 20, 2011 December 20, 2011, 8:40 pm
Sadness is when a little girl of 2 will not have the love that only a mother can give..most difficult when Christmas is upon us..My heart goes out to Mr Bermudez..I hope God gives you the strenght to carry on..take care of your daughter John..may God’s hand heal your broken heart
Posted by: simon | December 21, 2011 December 21, 2011, 12:12 am
@Kathy M.,, being Venezuelan has to do with where she was born and raised, regardless of her parents. I am American, yet my parents are Colombian. Get it? If you parents are Italian and you were still born and raised in this country, brought up in American schools, etc. you are American, with an Italian heritage. Makes sense?
Posted by: Monica | December 21, 2011 December 21, 2011, 12:31 am
@monica…good answer. People are so ignorant. Though it was Donna, not Kathy that your comments should have been directed to. The poster’s name is below the word bubble, not above.
Posted by: Butch | December 21, 2011 December 21, 2011, 6:51 am
GOD BLESS HER
Posted by: mojgan | March 5, 2012 March 5, 2012, 6:59 am