Model Allyn Rose from Charles County, Md. has the chance of a lifetime to be in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. But, she said the odds were she wouldn’t live to see this day, and now she has a chance to inspire and encourage others to put living before their looks.
"I lost my mother to breast cancer when I was 16," said Rose. "And after my mother had passed away, I realized it wasn't just my mom, it was my grandmother, it was my great aunts, every single woman in my family had lost their lives to breast cancer."
In 2015, the former Miss D.C. and Miss America contestant decided to undergo a preventative double mastectomy, and reconstruction.
Rose said the decision was tough but once she made it, she knew she made the right one.
"This is something that I'm gonna do for me, for my future husband, for my future children. I want to live and that was more important than having what society told me was a beautiful body," she said.
Rose said she suffered complications and had to have three surgeries in all. She said it took her a year to feel normal again.
PHOTOS: Sports Illustrated swimsuit model with double mastectomy inspires others
After sitting it out last year, Rose got up the courage to consider entering this year’s Sports Illustrated model search.
After getting laid off from her job unexpectedly, she decided to go for it. She sat in her closet and made an Instagram video. She was selected out of 7,500 entries.
"I got the email, I just started crying. I broke out in hives, all over my arms, my face and my chest. It just felt like a dream come true. I couldn't imagine a woman like me, having the chance to even just meet with the Sports Illustrated editors," she said.
Rose is now the age her mom was when she died. She said she wants to use her platform tto help other women in her situation to choose the life-saving procedure, despite being afraid of what they may look like after.
Rose shared a conversation she had with one woman who reached out to her:
"One woman in particular said 'I never thought that my husband would look at me the same way again, I never thought I'd be able to look in the mirror and like what I saw, and I saw you talking about it. I just scheduled my surgery and you might have just saved my life.' And I tear up every time I talk about it, because that is the reason why I'm doing this. That's what's so incredible about having this opportunity."
