Linda Evangelista says she views mastectomy scars as ‘trophies’ following recent breast cancer diagnosis

Linda Evangelista has opened up about how she’s maintained a positive perspective following her recent breast cancer diagnosis.

This week, the 58-year-old supermodel revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer twice within the last five years. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Evangelista shared how she’s celebrating her life now after several years of health battles.

“I’m in full celebration mode right now,” she told the outlet on 7 September. “I’ve had some health struggles and everything now is just a celebration.”

The Canadian model first discovered she had breast cancer in 2018, after it was detected during her annual mammogram. She elected to undergo a bilateral mastectomy, a surgery done to remove both breasts as a way to treat cancer. Evangelista then felt a bump on her chest in July 2022, which she soon learned was cancer of the pectoral muscle.

One year later, Evangelista has shared that she’s feeling healthier than ever and continues to find motivation in all aspects of her daily life. “I am very positive. It’s the new me,” she told Vanity Fair. “I think going through hardships and coming through the other end has made me focus only on the good things. I’m so happy to be alive. I know I am very fortunate.”

While discussing her subsequent diagnoses, Evangelista revealed that she wasn’t concerned how the multiple surgeries to remove the cancer would impact her appearance. “I never felt like my breasts defined me as a woman,” she said of the bilateral mastectomy, which left scars across the skin of her chest.

“I have always viewed scars on the body from surgeries, from disease, as trophies. They are like gold and shiny and should be on a mantle. It shows you won,” Evangelista added. “I think scars are to be celebrated and not to be looked at as bad and ugly. It makes you stronger.”

Speaking to WSJ Magazine earlier this week, the Vogue cover star spoke about her private battle with cancer for the very first time. As to why she had kept “quiet” about her cancer diagnosis for so long, Evangelista admitted that she’s “not one of those people who has to share everything”.

“I thought to myself, I will share this one day but while I am going through it, absolutely not,” she continued. “I don’t want the Daily Mail waiting outside my door like they do every time something happens. ‘Linda seen for the first time since blah blah blah.’”

Evangelista explained that she decided to have a bilateral mastectomy to remove the cancerous breast tissue in 2018 because the “margins were not good” but she didn’t want to “deal” with undergoing cancer treatment. Four years later, she felt a bump on her chest and received an MRI scan. While she said her radiologist wasn’t initially concerned when she felt the bump, she noted that once the MRI was done, her doctor quickly ordered a biopsy.

After discovering she had cancer in her pectoral muscle from the biopsy, Evangelista recalled saying to her doctors: “Dig a hole in my chest. I don’t want it to look pretty. I want you to excavate. I want to see a hole in my chest when you’re done. Do you understand me? I’m not dying from this.”