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Former Beauty Queen Taking Drastic Steps To Avoid Breast Cancer

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- An update on a story we first brought you two years ago. A former beauty queen from Maryland makes a brave decision—removing both of her breasts because most of her female relatives died of breast cancer.

Allyn Rose, 26, shares her courageous story with Mary Bubala. It's a message she wants other women to hear.

As a model and former Miss America contestant, Allyn Rose relied on her physical beauty to succeed.

But beneath the surface was an intense fear her body would fail her--something she first told WJZ in May of 2013.

"It's like a ticking time bomb for me, and it was never a matter of if--it was always when," said Rose.

Allyn inherited a rare genetic mutation, predisposing her to breast cancer. Her mom died from it when Allyn was just 16.

"My mom would have given up every part of her body to be here," said Rose.

With that knowledge, Allyn Rose bravely underwent a preventative double mastectomy at Georgetown University in March and met with Mary Bubala just weeks later--still recovering, but feeling strong.

Bubala: "You sit here before me with a changed body."

Rose: "I do look in the mirror right now and I see a different body, but they also are badges of honor and that's the way that I look at my scars."

Allyn joins a list of other well known figures like Angelina Jolie, Giuliana Rancic, Sharon Osbourne who've all gotten preventative double mastectomies--a move that can decrease chances of getting breast cancer by more than 90 percent.

Bubala: "We see women like yourself, known for their physical beauty--going through this radical procedure--does it help to have more and more women--deciding to take this step?

Rose: "It's a small price to pay to live--and I think that's been my motto--life over vanity and life over what other people tell me makes me a beautiful woman."

Bubala: "Did you have second thoughts, did you think--I can't go through with this?"

Rose: "I have a boyfriend right now--what would he think of me, what will he think of my body, what will the world think of my body? And I didn't know if this was going to stop me from a modeling career--I didn't know if it was going to psychologically impact me to the point where I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and am I going to like what I see."

Allyn plans to have full reconstructive surgery and she's already back modeling.

Bubala: "Allyn, I can only think that your mom is looking down on you and saying, and saying yes, you did the right thing--you did it."

Rose: "It took a lot of--you know, an emotionally challenging thing, a lot of tears a lot of struggle. But, you know, I did it and I don't look back at all."

Allyn is scheduled to have reconstructive surgery sometime next month.

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