Meet the face that launched (more than) a thousand re-tweets.
A post by Andrea Sierra Salazar, who has cancer, has gone viral — receiving over 98,000 re-tweets and over 200,000 likes. The tweet features the 17-year-old Texan at a photo shoot rocking a gorgeous gown, fierce self-esteem and the caption: “Cancer doesn’t stop me from being a princess.”
In February Salazar, who works part time as a model, found a lump on her neck, Buzzfeed News reported. Soon after she was diagnosed with stage 2 lymphoma. She lost her hair as a result of chemotherapy, and although she got to model in a bunch of fab wigs, she said her self-esteem was suffering.
“I would have never imagined being able to go out in public without a wig,” Salazar wrote on Instagram. “I had lost most confidence in myself.”
Salazar then connected with photographer Gerardo Garmendia, who decided to do a photo shoot with the young model using a theme she had thought of herself: “a princess without a wig.”
“I’ve learned that the hair on someone’s head doesn’t define who they are as a person, but their actions and the way they treat others do.”
“Andrea loves modeling and wanted to have a shoot showing that no matter what you go through in life, beauty lies within,” Garmendia wrote on his website.
The session was an instant boost to Salazar’s self esteem. She told Buzzfeed that she hopes that it inspires other girls in her situation.
“This journey has taught me to love and accept myself regardless of the way I look,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’ve learned that the hair on someone’s head doesn’t define who they are as a person, but their actions and the way they treat others [do]. All girls are princesses, and today I feel beautiful inside and out.”
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