Former ‘Top Model’ contestant has ‘incurable’ Stage 4 breast cancer: ‘I don’t want to die’

Published October 10, 2018

Former "America's Next Top Model" contestant Jael Strauss reveals that she has been battling Stage 4 breast cancer. (Instagram)

Former "America's Next Top Model" contestant Jael Strauss revealed she is fighting for her life.

Last week, the former aspiring model told fans that she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer that has been determined "incurable."

“I was gonna write some long thing but some of you guys deserve to know,” the 34-year-old wrote on Facebook just a few days ahead of Brest Cancer Awareness month. “On October 2nd I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. It has aggressively spread throughout my body and is incurable.”

Though Strauss' progressive metastatic inflammatory breast cancer is said to be incurable, the former reality star is hoping that with the help of treatments like chemotherapy, she may be able to slightly extend her life expectancy.

“With treatment, it may prolong my life longer than the 'few months' doctors said I could make it,” she wrote on Facebook. “I don’t want to die. I need another one of those miracles that I got back in 2013.”

In honor of Strauss'cause, her friends created a GoFundMe page on her behalf to help with medical expenses.

“What we do know is that Jael is putting all of her energy and drive into fighting this insidious disease and can use as much support and love as possible,” they wrote in a blurb about Strauss' condition on the GoFundMe page. “Whether you can give a lot, a little, or contribute by keeping her in your hearts, anything helps. Jael is in tremendous pain right now and is unable to work. In a month, she will be let go from her job and lose her health insurance. I’m sure everyone understands how expensive cancer treatment is, and the last thing we want Jael to focus on right now is whether or not she will be able to afford her rent, her treatment, and other expenses."

The GoFundMe page goal is currently set at $15,000 and so far, the former model's friends have been able to raise nearly $8,000 dollars in just four days.

And while the former "ANTM" contestant, who appeared on Cycle 8 of the modeling reality show in 2007, has been fighting cancer, she recently celebrated a major life milestone -- five years of sobriety.

After hitting rock bottom on an infamous episode of "The Dr. Phil Show" in 2012, where the model confronted her drug addiction on national television in a staged intervention, Strauss decided that it was time to get clean.

In an Instagram post shared in August, she wrote, “Today I have 5 years sober. Good God! I know a few things to be true: Miracles are real, Recovery is possible for everyone no matter how far gone you think you are, We are never too broken to be put back together."

Strauss continued, “Service work feels better than the greatest high, Sobriety makes you weirder not normal 😊 and I’d be dead if it weren’t for all the love and forgiveness I’ve been showered with by my friends and family. Thank you to anyone that’s ever let me sponsor them.”

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/former-top-model-contestant-has-incurable-stage-4-breast-cancer-i-dont-want-to-die