Former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres knew she had a mole on the back of her leg for years but never gave it much thought. “I remember people talking to me about it,” she said. “But because it was on the back of my leg, I would forget.”
It wasn’t until 2019, while traveling, that she noticed it had grown and made an appointment to see a doctor in Miami before heading home to Los Angeles. That decision may have saved her life. Her doctor immediately suspected skin cancer, and a biopsy confirmed stage 3 melanoma.
“I have two kids, and I was a single mom. It was tough,” Torres told Yahoo. She underwent surgery that left her with 77 stitches and followed up with radiation and immunotherapy every 21 days for a full year. At the time, she knew very little about melanoma, but her diagnosis pushed her to speak out.
Torres shared her treatment updates on social media and took part in the Melanoma Research Foundation’s “Get Naked” campaign, encouraging people to check their moles. “So many Latinos started doing appointments at their dermatologist because of me speaking out about it,” she said. “It made me feel good.”
These days, she’s diligent about sun protection — using SPF daily, especially on her face and arms, wearing sun hats, sunglasses, and her favorite Coolibar shirts. “Back in 2019, during my treatment, I was always wearing Coolibar,” she said.
Kelly McWhinney, a former cheerleader, had her own brush with melanoma after years of tanning in salons. Diagnosed in 2022, she noticed a mole growing on her body. A year later, a sharp pain in her breast turned out to be a swollen lymph node — the cancer had spread.
She underwent surgery and began 26 rounds of immunotherapy, but the treatment triggered severe autoimmune reactions, leading to complications including hypothyroidism, type 1 diabetes, ovarian cysts, and ultimately a tubal ligation. “The cascade of treatment-related complications continued even after completing immunotherapy,” she said.
Now, McWhinney avoids sun exposure as much as possible, uses SPF religiously, and wears sun-protective clothing. She works with the Melanoma Research Alliance and urges people to treat skin checks like other key health screenings. “It is a necessity,” she said. “Melanoma will never ‘just’ be skin cancer. It is quick, sneaky, and shows up everywhere.”
For Juanita Taylor, it was shortness of breath on Mother’s Day that led her to the ER. Doctors didn’t find heart issues but spotted a mass during a chest X-ray. A biopsy revealed melanoma — this time inside her lungs. She underwent surgery at MD Anderson and has since become very cautious in the sun, wearing hats even in winter and sticking to shaded areas.
“Know your own body,” she said. “When I had shortness of breath, I knew the body was telling me something was amiss.”
Nancy Stokes has had four melanomas since her first diagnosis in 2008. Regular skin checks have caught most of them early. “The worst one I had was very early stage, but on my temple,” she said. “They were worried it would damage my facial nerve.”
Now she’s religious about covering up and wearing SPF, using products like Elizabeth Arden Prevage and UPF-lined clothing. “If I’m going to be in the sun, I wear a hat with an SPF liner,” she said.
Each of these women shares a similar message — don’t wait, don’t ignore your skin, and take sun protection seriously. They’re not just survivors. They’re warriors who want you to be one step ahead.