Sherika De Armas, who represented Uruguay in the Miss World competition in 2015, has died. She was 26.
Local media reported she died last week after a two-year cervical cancer battle. Friends and family paid emotional tribute to the brunette beauty queen.
“Fly high, little sister. Always and forever,” her brother, Mayk’ De Armas, said on social media.
The reigning Miss Uruguay, Carla Romero, mourned that De Armas was “too evolved for this world. One of the most beautiful women I have ever met in my life.”
Anto Ciavaglia, a close friend, wrote: “I remember you with that beautiful glow.”
De Armas didn’t make the top 30 at the 2015 Miss World contest in Sanya, China, but she was one of only six 18-year-olds to compete.
At the time, one outlet complimented her “beautiful face, towering height and charismatic personality” while calling her “one of the young promising talents of Uruguay.”
“I always wanted to be a model, whether a beauty model, an advertising model or a catwalk model,” she said in a translated interview with NetUruguay, per Univision.
“I like everything related to fashion and I think that within a beauty pageant, any girl’s dream is to have the opportunity to participate in Miss Universe. I am very happy to be able to live this experience full of challenges.”
Off the runway, De Armas sold personal care, makeup, and hair products through the Shey De Armas Beauty Studio.
She was also said to devote her time to the childhood cancer organization Pérez Scremini Foundation.
Cervical cancer occurs most often in people older than 30, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The disease can be prevented with regular screening and the HPV vaccine, the agency says.
