Former Miss Venezuela Dies of Breast Cancer at 28

Eva Ekvall, who was crowned Miss Venezuela at the age of 17 in 2000, and was third runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico in the following year, died at the age 28 due to breast cancer. Her struggle with breast cancer was closely followed by Venezuelans.

The Venezuelan television channel Globovision reports that Ekvall, mother-of-one died on Saturday, December 17 in a Houston, Texas hospital after a two year struggle with breast cancer.

"In the beginning I wasn't sure if I looked good or not. Then I realized that wasn't the point. I wasn't supposed to look good, I had cancer", said Eva Ekvall on taking photographs for her book, Fuera de Foco.