Beauty Contestant Determined to Compete in Miss California USA Pageant Despite Cancer Diagnosis

One beauty queen has big dreams even as she faces the crisis of her life.

Earlier this year, doctors told 27-year-old Andrea Andrade she has stage 3 colon cancer and has between six months and two years to live.

“I look at my parents. I am thinking, ‘I am their only daughter,' and I think, 'What would they do without me?'" she told Inside Edition. 

Doctors removed her tumor, part of her intestine and started chemotherapy.

Despite her grim diagnosis, she was determined to compete in the Miss California USA Beauty Pageant. 

“I felt like I just need to do this now," she said. "It's been one of my lifelong dreams."

Her decision to compete came as her hair began falling out and the cancer-fighting drugs are triggering terrible migraines.

“I'm so focused on giving the judges everything they want,” she added. “They continue to say, ‘Hey, you motivate me.’ I say, ‘No, you motivate me.'" 

On the night of the big competition Sunday, Andrade did not take home the crown, but did capture the Miss Congeniality Award. 

“I am a strong believer that being positive cures everything,” she declared. 

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