The 2013 Miss America Pageant airs tonight from Las Vegas, but contestant Allyn Rose already understands that there's more to life than looking great in a bikini.
The 24-year-old Miss District of Columbia pageant winner says that she plans to undergo an elective double mastectomy after this year's pageant run is over. Rose has lost three family members to breast cancer, including her mother. While Rose says tests show that she does not carry the "breast cancer gene," her family history is enough to make doctors agree that she holds a genetic predisposition to breast cancer. Rose said that her mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age 27 and battled the disease for more than twenty years before passing away.
"My mom would have given up every part of her body to be here for me, to watch me in the pageant," Rose told reporters. "If there's something that I can do to be proactive, it might hurt my body, it might hurt my physical beauty, but I'm going to be alive."
Rose will vie for the crown against 52 other women including representatives from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This year's pageant also includes the first autistic contestant in history, Miss Montana Alexis Wiseman.
Check back with the National Celebrity Examiner for updates on the competition
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