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	A young woman who survived cancer has sent an inspiring message aimed at other women who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy.</p>
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	Andrea Sierra Salazar, 17, tweeted a photo shoot taken after she lost her hair, with the caption &quot;Cancer doesn&#39;t stop me being a princess&quot;.</p>
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	She discovered she had cancer when her mother took her to hospital after she found a lump on her neck.</p>
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	Ms Salazar told BuzzFeed: &quot;There were no side effects, I wouldn&rsquo;t have known [I had cancer] until one day I felt like I slept wrong, and my neck hurt. I patted my neck and I felt a really big ball.&quot;</p>
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	Doctors discovered she had two tumours, one in her neck and one in her chest. They diagnosed her with stage two lymphoma.</p>
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	Because she has had to take time off school to have treatment, her mother suggested she spend her free time modelling.</p>
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	Ms Salazar has enjoyed modelling since she was 13 years old - but losing her hair knocked her confidence.</p>
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	She experimented with wigs, but it wasn&#39;t the same.</p>
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	&ldquo;Before chemotherapy I had always been a confident person,&rdquo; she told the website,&ldquo;so when my hair started to fall out I would look in the mirror and I wouldn&rsquo;t feel that confident about myself.&rdquo;</p>
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	She modeled for a fair few photographers and agencies after her mother set up appointments with them.</p>
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	But one photo shoot was really special - Gerardo Garmendia took a series of photographs of her without a wig on, and she looks radiant.</p>
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	Almost 100,000 people have retweeted the pictures of her smiling in an ornate blue dress.</p>
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	She spoke to BuzzFeed about the experience: &quot;[At first] I didn&rsquo;t feel confident enough to do a version without a wig, but then I realised that I had no reason to be ashamed of the way I looked, I should be proud.</p>
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	&quot;It&rsquo;s not only about my outside beauty, it&rsquo;s about the inside. That&rsquo;s what really inspired the photoshoot without the wig.&quot;</p>
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	Ms Salazar originally took the pictures to inspire the young people at the clinic.</p>
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	&quot;I see all these little girls, and you can see it in their faces that they lose all confidence in themselves,&quot; she told the website.</p>
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	&quot;I want them to know that your hair or your physical attributes doesn&rsquo;t define who you are &ndash; what really matters is your inner beauty, the way you treat others, and if you&rsquo;re a kind person, that shows through.&quot;</p>
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	(Published by the Irish Independent on the 15th August 2016)</p>
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	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/health-features/teenager-with-cancer-sends-out-inspiring-message-after-losing-her-hair-34966924.html">http://www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/health-features/teenager-with-cancer-sends-out-inspiring-message-after-losing-her-hair-34966924.html</a></p>
