‘I was in complete shock': Former Miss Universe on shocking melanoma diagnosis

She is a Puerto Rican actress model and former Miss Universe and is known around the world for her accomplishments but now Dayanara Torres is sharing more about a personal chapter of her life Torres is also a stage Melanoma survivor No human being ever wants to hear the word cancer ' she stated of her determination When it happened to me I was in complete shock I had no idea what was going on in my body Torres like countless others thought that melanoma would be an easy cancer to fix just cut a mole and you re done It s not like that I waited way too long to get mine checked because one I m a mom and I m inevitably taking care of everyone else especially my kids she mentioned It was on the back of my leg so I wasn t seeing it all the time Almost seven years passed before I in fact went to check it and by then it had already spread to my lymph nodes That s why it was stage three Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer Since her determination Torres has used her platform with more than million followers on social media to inspire others to take action What s now called The Dayanara Effect has encouraged Latinos and Hispanics to get screened We think we re strong enough or that it just won t happen to us Torres announced Maybe it s because I m from Puerto Rico an island so there s this mentality that it only happens to people with darker skin or that it won t happen if you re not out in the sun much But it happened to me I have light skin I m never really in the sun And when she s in the sun Torres wears UPF sun protection clothing She s partnered with the apparel brand Coolibar to share her message and to reimagine melanoma s traditional black awareness ribbon into a cool blue I could ve chosen not to speak about it Torres commented of her journey But I just felt the need to spread the word For more information about the signs of melanoma click here