An Irish model has said that representing amputees as she walks down the catwalk at London Fashion Week has been the highlight of her career so far.
Irish model Bernadette Hagans walked in the Pretty Little Thing runway show at London Fashion Week this week, and the gorgeous cancer survivor and amputee is an inspiration for all survivors everywhere.
Speaking with The Belfast Telegraph, Hagans says this was a “huge milestone.” She continues, “It means so much to me to know that amputees watching this fashion show will feel represented.”
The Belfast native walks using a prosthetic limb after her leg was amputated following her cancer battle in 2018. She shares a picture from the runway at London Fashion Week on Instagram, writing simply, “Last night.”
Hagans is an accomplished model, as well as a beauty pageant winner; she came third in the Miss Northern Ireland pageant. She also received the “Beauty with a Purpose” award. Hagans, through her work, shows how broad and encompassing the definition of beauty is, and we love it.
Hagans lost her leg two and a half years ago when her synovial sarcoma (one of the rarest types of cancers) attacked it, leading to the life-saving amputation. The model felt tired for a year before finding out why, and discovered a lump in her right leg which was increasing in size. The tumor was found within her nerves and blood vessels.
Hagans learned to walk on her prosthetic leg after just a week in the hospital after her amputation.
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