Sashaying down the catwalk in a gorgeous evening gown, Sam Lewis felt empowered – and sexier than ever.
And her confidence must have shown, because the 47-year-old cancer survivor became the first woman with one breast to be crowned a beauty queen both in America and in the UK.
For Sam, winning after a mastectomy wasn’t just personal – it was a triumph for cancer survivors everywhere.
The mum of three says: “I want to show women with cancer that they shouldn’t let it hold them back.
“Women lose so much confidence when they are battling the disease. I want to tell them that you shouldn’t be ashamed of your body and mastectomy scars. They are your badge of war.”
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Sam, who lives with her husband Andrew, 43, a survival instructor, and their three children Sharna, 18, Annabelle, 14, and Henry, 11, was working as a school PE teacher and dance instructor when she discovered a lump in her left breast while showering in August 2012. She was 37.
Being busy, she delayed going to her GP for a week. She says: “I was always super fit, so cancer was the last thing I expected it to be. I wasn’t worried at all. No one in my family had ever had cancer and I was only 37 and thought I had my whole life ahead of me.”
But after scans and mammograms, the doctors delivered the devastating news that they had found three lumps and Sam had stage two breast cancer.
She says: “I was devastated. My children were only nine, six and one at the time. I didn’t even know if I would be there for them in a year’s time.
“The thought of never meeting my grandchildren nearly killed me.”
Then Sam’s competitive spirit woke. She says: “Determination kicked in. I’d done judo all my life. I knew what it was like to fight. I was like, Bring it on.”
Image:
MUST CREDIT Allie Crewe Photographer)Eight cycles of chemotherapy, a mastectomy to remove her left breast, and radiotherapy followed.
Doctors say there are no signs of cancer in her body for now.
Sam says: “I was so relieved when the doctors removed my breast. It had done its job breastfeeding my three kids, so I just wanted it gone. I was exhausted from the treatment.”
The mum, from Widnes, Cheshire, decided not to have reconstructive surgery.
“I wanted to get on with my life, she says.
“I hadn’t been able to pick Henry up and I didn’t want to have to wait any longer to do that by having a reconstruction.”
She adds: “Andrew isn’t bothered either. He’s thankful to still have me.”
Before cancer she wasn’t that happy with how her body looked, comparing it to her 21-year-old self. But the disease changed her mindset.
“I’m a lot more accepting and proudof my body now,” she says.
“I embrace my chubby bum, my scars. My body is my story, and I’m proud of my story.”
During chemo, Sam launched a charity to help women who have been through different types of cancer, called Sam’s Diamonds Cancer Support. It educates women on the signs and symptoms of the disease. Initially, her confidence was shattered by her mastectomy operation and cancer battle.
Entering a beauty pageant was a way of facing her fears. She says: “I had a friend who competed in beauty pageants and I said to her that I didn’t know how she did it.
“I said that I’d had three children and only had one boob – how could I possibly get on stage and compete with all those beautiful women?
“But as soon as I said that, I knew I needed to do something about my lack of confidence and to try to fix it.”
Even though she had never competed before, Sam came second in Miss British Empire 2018.
She says: “I still had short hair from my cancer treatment, so I put a wig on and went to the interviews.
“The director asked me to take my wig off and two weeks later I ended up in the final.”
Sam won Mrs Elite Global Earth in 2019. She says: “I held a knitted boob with me on stage after I’d won, as it had been so important for me to win a crown with only one breast. I wanted to show Sam’s Diamonds and all the other women fighting cancer out there that beauty comes from within.”
Further victory came in the role model category at home in the Royal International Miss UK competition in February 2021, when she became the first woman to triumph after a mastectomy.
Representing the UK, she also won the international spokeswoman section in Florida in July.
Sam says: “I flashed my scar to the judges and afterwards one came up to me and told me how brave I’d been.”
The mum says she has hung up her runway heels for now, but adds: “It was an amazing feeling standing up on stage, after winning a crown and being the first woman in the world to win in a beauty pageant with just one boob.
“I want to show women if I can do it and have the confidence, they can too.”
Visit samsdiamonds.org.uk