At age 26, Allyn Rose made a life-changing decision after cancer had devastated her family.
asserted
cancer → make → family
The model, who competed in both the Miss America and Miss USA pageants, underwent a preventive double mastectomy, a decision she said even sparked "hate mail" from critics.
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she → compete → critics
Today, the mother of two is the founder of The Previvor, a nonprofit organization that educates women about breast cancer risk and prevention options.
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that → educate → options
Oct. 31 marks the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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Oct. → mark → Month
"I know a lot of people think that's a pretty radical choice for someone who hadn't been diagnosed with breast cancer yet," Rose, now 38, told Fox News Digital.
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Rose → know → Digital
"But I lost my mom when I was 16.
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I → lose → mom
And by the time I was 16, I had lost my grandmother, my great aunt, almost every woman in my family to this disease.
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I → lose → disease
And I said that legacy ends with me.
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legacy → say → me
"
"I don't want that to be my story," she said.
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she → want → ?
"I don't want to have to tell my 16-year-old daughter someday that she's going to have to spend the rest of her life without her mom.
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she → want → mom
This sad family legacy was not going to take my life if I had anything to do with it."
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I → go → it
Rose's mother, Judy Rose, was first diagnosed with breast cancer at 27 and had her right breast removed.
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breast → diagnose → 27
The cancer later developed in her remaining breast, reaching stage 3, according to People magazine.
uncertain
cancer → develop → magazine
Judy died at 51.
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Judy → die → 51
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the U.S. after skin cancers, accounting for about 1 in 3 new cancer cases diagnosed in women each year, according to the American Cancer Society.
uncertain
cancer → account → Society
About 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop breast cancer during their lives.
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women → develop → lives
WATCH: ALLYN ROSE CHOSE DOUBLE MASTECTOMY AT 26 SO CANCER LEGACY 'ENDS WITH ME'
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LEGACY → watch → ME
The organization estimates that 321,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among U.S. women in 2026 and that about 42,140 women will die from the disease.
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women → estimate → disease
Rose was considered at elevated risk of developing breast cancer because of her extensive family history.
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Rose → consider → history
In 2012, she was crowned Miss District of Columbia, earning the opportunity to represent the district at the 2013 Miss America pageant.
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she → crown → pageant
That same year, at 24, Rose announced her decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy.
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Rose → announce → mastectomy
She had the surgery two years later, at 26.
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She → have → 26
For women with a strong family history of breast cancer, a bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy can lower the risk of developing the disease by up to 90%, according to the National Cancer Institute.
uncertain
mastectomy → reduce → Institute
The procedure does not eliminate the risk entirely because it is impossible to remove all breast tissue that could become cancerous.
uncertain
that → eliminate → tissue
"So much of my life and my identity was wrapped up in the way that I looked and how I presented myself to the world," Rose said.
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Rose → wrap → world
"I paid my bills and my rent with the way that I looked.
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I → pay → way
I didn't think [my looks] were 100% of my identity, but I would be lying if I didn't consider the repercussions of having a surgery like this.
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I → think → this
It would very likely end my modeling career, my career in pageantry, my career really in the entertainment industry.
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It → end → industry
"I wasn't married," she said.
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she → marry → ?
"I didn't have any children.
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I → have → children
These were all conversations I was going to have with a future partner someday.
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I → go → partner
And so, it was a really tough choice, and it's one that I'm glad that I made,
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I → make → that
it's very difficult to make the decision to have a surgery to prevent a cancer that didn't exist yet."
With her father's support, Rose underwent a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing breast cancer.
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Rose → make → cancer
She ended up having three surgeries, including reconstruction, and went through what she described as "very graphic periods of looking completely different, having no breasts, wondering who is ever going to be happy looking at me like this."
Then she remembered her mother, Judy.
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she → end → mother
"[Losing my mother] drastically impacted my life, not only because it was my mother, but because I didn't know how to be a woman yet," she said.
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she → lose → life
"[When I lost her] I hadn't even gotten my driver's license.
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I → lose → license
I hadn't graduated from high school.
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I → graduate → school
I hadn't sent myself off to college yet.
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I → send → college
I spent a lot of those real pinnacle years of my life without a mentor, without someone to guide me through that.
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I → spend → that
It was a very challenging time really, having to be my own cheerleader, experience all those crowning achievements in my life by myself.
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It → have → myself
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
