Culture
Beauty Pageant Winner Passes Away at 28 After Sharing Her One Year Cervical Cancer Fight
Guatemalan TV host and pageant queen Raquel Escalante dies at 28
After sharing her battle with cervical cancer in a very public way, Raquel Escalante, a Guatemalan pageant queen and TV host, has passed away at the age of 28.
The death of the star was first communicated by TV Azteca Guate where Escalante was a host, in an Instagram tribute on Nov. 28. “One of her outstanding qualities was the joy with which she lived and the unique light that for sure she carried inside her – and which made every moment with her side something unforgettable and special,” the announcement said. “Today it is a very sad moment for us to say goodbye to a colleague and friend whose love and friendship left a very deep mark in our hearts. We are sure not to forget her smile, her energy and her passion for communicating which will always be with us and will continue to inspire us every day.”
Raquel Escalante shared her cancer of the cervix experience through social media
One of her achievements, Escalante in 2021 was crowned Miss Intercontinental Guatemala. Consequently, she has made a significant online following particularly on Instagram where she has more than 87,000 followers and on Tiktok 324,000 followers, thus she shared pictures and videos from her life as a TV host.
She announced in August 2024 that she had been hospitalized due to her hemoglobin levels going down. After that in October, the escape aunt started a GoFundMe to help with the costs of the Escalante’s medical care. She informed people that her cousin was diagnosed with cancer of the cervix in the beginning of 2024 and she is still suffering from the side effects of the operation to remove the cancerous cells.
Raquel Escalante’s family was in need of support while she was ill for several months in the hospital
In the translated description of the GoFundMe campaign, it was written: “We are calling on all benevolent people who would like to help her with her medical expenses, because Raquel is very sick.” Since February she has been in the hospital most of her time and has had to make a lot of payments for the hospitals. Her foster family has been supporting her but, there are moments that we cannot control,” the text continued.
Throughout the past year, Escalante kept sharing with her followers updates regarding her health condition and she also informed them about the doctor’s visits and the different operations that she had to go through in order to treat the cancer.
Fans remember Raquel Escalante in her last TikTok
Following the announcement of her passing, the fan community was so overwhelmed with grief that they left in the comments of the last video of Raquel Escalante a multitude of messages of affection and remembrance.
“You will never be forgotten Raquelita, you are going to be the one who is going to live in our hearts always,” said a user of the network.
Another one put “Now be shining in the sky, take a rest in [God’s] arms, your light is not going to go out, you are in our hearts, you are an incredible love example.”
A third one just said: “Rest in peace, Raquelita”.
