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Former Miss World contestant Sherika De Armas passed away at the age of 26 on October 13, 2023, after a battle with cervical cancer. The model's surname piqued curiosity online with most people believing that she might be related to actress Ana De Armas. However, they are not related to each other but only have the same last name.
La Prensa Grafica revealed that Sherika De Armas was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2021, and had been undergoing treatment for the same. CNBC states that Sherika's death was confirmed by her brother Mayk on social media.
"Fly High, little sister. Always and forever," he wrote.
Lola de los Santos, who won Miss Uruguay 2020, paid tribute to Sherika on social media.
"I will always remember you, not only for all the support you gave me and how much you wanted to see me grow, and how much you wanted to see me grow, but for your affection, your joy, the friends we shared and that remain with me today," Lola wrote.
Current Miss Uruguay Carla Romero also expressed her grief on Instagram by describing Sherika De Armas as "one of the most beautiful women" she ever met.
As mentioned earlier, Sherika and Ana De Armas only share the last name and are not related in any way.
Sherika De Armas developed an interest in modeling at an early age
Univision states that Sherika De Armas aimed to build a career in modeling at an early age. She began her career in 2015 as a contestant in several beauty pageants and participated in the Miss World contest the same year when she was only 18.
Sherika previously emerged as the winner of Miss Mundo Uruguay in 2015. Angelopedia stated at the time that she was one of the young and promising "talents of Uruguay." They also wrote that her "best features" were her face, her height, and her "charismatic personality." Calling Sherika a girl with "concrete goals," Angelopedia added that the model knew what she wanted and worked hard towards achieving it.
While speaking to NetUruguay, Sherika De Armas said that it was her dream to become a "beauty model, an advertising model, or a catwalk model."
"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," she added.
Sherika also put some makeup and hair products for sale via the Shey De Armas Beauty Studio. The online beauty salon had an official Instagram page with around 9,000 followers. She was also involved in some philanthropic work as per Univision and was a volunteer in activities related to the burned children at the Pereira Rossell Hospital.
Sherika was also active on Instagram with around 42,000 followers. However, the account was set to private so her posts remain inaccessible.
2023 has witnessed the death of many models
The modeling industry has witnessed a big loss after the death of several models in 2023.
Model and TV personality Gail O'Neill passed away on October 10, 2023, at the age of 61, according to Deadline. Her cause of death has yet to be revealed to the public. Another model, Barbara Mullen died at her home in Albuquerque on September 12, 2023, at the age of 96. At the beginning of this year, Tatjana Patitz, who was a supermodel during the 90s passed away at the age of 56.
