Allyn Rose, a 24-year-old Maryland native set to compete for the Miss America title next year, is planning to undergo a precautionary double mastectomy.
Rose explained that she made the hard decision to have both breasts removed at such a young age because of a genetic mutation in her family's DNA.
Saying that this predisposes females in her family to get breast cancer early in their lives, Allyn decided she would take a preventative measure.
"The idea that I could wake up one day and not have the same body that I did the day before is very scary," the blond bombshell told People.
"But my mom was diagnosed at 27. That's three years away from me. I'm not going to let my fear of losing this part of my femininity stop me from living."
Rose posted last week to her Tumblr page a BRCA analysis she had done which detects harmful mutations in genes that produce hereditary cancer.
Luckily, the test came back negative.
However, having lost her mom to the disease when she was just 16, Rose is very cognizant that she could get breast cancer at any time.
"It's a very strange change in our genetic code. Almost all of the women in my family have passed away from it," she lamented.
So the model and part-time paralegal said she's opting for what some call an extreme preventive measure to give herself a better chance of a long life.
Miss America is set to air live on ABC on January 12.
Rose said that if she wins, she'll wait to have the procedure followed by reconstructive surgery once her year-long reign is up in January 2014.
Should she lose, she'll have the surgery next June.
She's a winner no matter what ... but #TeamAllyn!!!!