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FORMER MISS VENEZUELA Eva Ekvall, whose struggle with breast cancer was closely followed by Venezuelans, has died at age 28.
Her family said Ekvall died Saturday at a hospital in Houston.
Ekvall was crowned Miss Venezuela at age 17 in 2000, and the following year she was third runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico. She went on to work as a model, actress and television news anchor.
She also authored a book, “Fuera de Foco” (“Out of Focus”), about her struggle with cancer, which included images by Venezuelan photographer Roberto Mata.
She told the newspaper El Nacional in an interview last year after the book was published that “I needed to send the message of the need for cancer prevention.”
On the cover was a portrait in which she appeared with makeup and her head shaved. The book also included images of her while going through chemotherapy.
“I hate to see photos in which I come out ugly,” Ekvall told El Nacional. “But you know what? Nobody ever said cancer is pretty or that I should look like Miss Venezuela when I have cancer.”
At the time, she was hopeful of overcoming cancer and wanted to write more.
Ekvall’s family said in a statement that her remains were being cremated in Houston yesterday and that a service is to be held in Venezuela once her remains are returned to the country.
Ekvall said in a 2007 interview published in Venezuelan news media that although her mother is Jamaican and her father is American of Swedish and Hungarian descent, “I feel more Venezuelan than anybody.”
She was married to radio producer John Fabio Bermudez and had a two-year-old daughter.
In her book, Ekvall had described her joy at the birth of her daughter saying “that happiness, although (the daughter) may not know it or understand it, keeps me alive today.”
Her death brought an outpouring of condolences from Venezuelans, including from some prominent artists and politicians who praised her in messages on Twitter.
One drawing posted online depicted her as an angel with white wings and a pink ribbon on her chest.
Ekvall’s husband posted a photo on Twitter Sunday showing a close-up of his hand holding hers, resting on a bed, with the words “Always together … I love you wife.”
- Ian James
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The Irish people need to show solidarity with the unions fighting to protest the wages and conditions of ordinary workers. However, the unions also need to broaden their outlook beyond their own sectional interests and demonstrate solidarity with the people.
The ESB unions had the ability to stop the imposition of the Home Tax robbery dead in its tracks this year by depriving the Revenue’s computers of the electricity they needed to implement the Troika’s bond holder tax. The An Post workers had the power to stop the delivery of the ECB’s extortion letters before they dropped through a single letterbox.
The unions and everybody else needs to wake up and start thinking in terms of ‘We’ rather than ‘I’. The country is being looted to pay for the failure of speculative financial capitalism and we won’t stop this until we stand together.
That’s an excellent statement coddler.
Are u serious coddler …. Really u think esb and the post office should have, in order to “prevent” the property tax not so the job they are paid to do
Well said Coddler
Do you really think the country is something we can just plug out and then plug back in? Property tax was going to hit us in some shape or form
Still bleating on I see Coddler. Jim Larkin would be proud of you
I’ll take that as a compliment Josh.
L-plate,
They call it a property tax but in reality it’s a tax on Irish peoples’ homes in order to pay for the failure speculative financial capitalism.
Unions care about themselves and to hell with everyone else- nothing we about unions
A home is a property you clown
@ Coddler
Thought you might
Well said Shane… honestly some people really need to get real and act like adults when posting comments. Coddler is the type of person that blames the world for their problems..
Great I’m coming home on the 17th for Christmas, reminds me why I left
Glad to read that hope is appearing in this dispute as it will save the customers and esb work force The over paid union leaders should have done more to steer the workers away from this threatened action in the first place.
We had no power for 6 days over Christmas 2010 & we didnt picket the ESB… Why should they hold the country to ransom over a pension? Many organisations have moved from DB to DC and many private sector workers dont even get a pension. Due to the size of the organisation a pension is guaranteed for them, which is a great benefit!
The chance of the esb workers pulling the plug over the christmas is non existant . The public opinion is so against them that they would be crucified if this happened. Imagine old people freezing in their house. Forget it ,it won’t happen a deal will be done
Will there light at the end of the tunnel?? .Will there be power for the people?? The workers in ESB would wanna be right wa&kers to feck up Xmas for the whole country.Its yer problems ye sort it out…Just leave the switch on for Xmas
pure shame on esb if they pull the plug
Well put coddler. More orchestrated strike actions required to put this government on its knees. They should be worried about what we might do next, not the other way around.
Go on strike for gods sake… Yere pensions will be worthless in a few years time anyway
Actually the pension is on target to break even in ten years. It’s just greed that makes them want the 1.6 billion hole filled now.
No it’s not the filling of the hole it’s the definition of the scheme DB or DC
It is obvious that IF that email is genuine it was not sent by the ESB but rather by the sinister careless unionised workers at ESB. I just want to make public that I have changed supplier, I am no longer a ESB customer and you know what? I’ve got better rates too, I know it won’t make a difference and I am still vulnerable to power cuts on the 16th, but at least I have the peace of mind that I will not contribute to the ESB workers wages and pension. Lets all change suppliers, that will show them!
Juan,
Unfortunately you should have checked the rates before you changed supplier… The fact is that suppliers charge you a higher ground rate that ESB even with lower unit rates you still will end up paying more… ha ha…
Also, regardless who your supplier is a portion will still go through ESB networks for the maintenance, repair and service of the networks.
So you loose……
This is all a perfect example of how greedy unions and their members are, they are an absolute disgrace
If they go on strike then everyone should stop paying their bills! Cancel your Direct Debits people.
No need to be insulting Max!
Not an insult at all but a simple reply to a simple comment!!
Ogle = Scargill
During the 1930′s the English based Trade Unions had a stranglehold on our workers and one the the greatest but unsung of our Trade Union leaders took them on. Jack Cassidy founded the National Engineering Union which is now swallowed up in the mess that our unions has become. My father was involved and Jack was often in our house I picked up a lot from him. The most important thing he said was that ‘If they go out the gate then I have failed’ He hated using the strike weapon and there is a lesson there for the ESB unions right now. If you go out that gate then your union leaders have failed you.
Just fire then all it really is that simple
How crazy a comment is that… maybe we could move Ireland a little further south and get some of the weather Spain gets… it is really that simple…….
There are quiet a number of comments with correct facts and there are quiet a few with incorrect information.
I am a full time ESB employee. I will not be drawn into a them and us debate nor will I try to patronise people with ideas of me living on the bread line.
My salary is approx 50K. I cannot apologise for this as I submitted an application form did an interview and the rest is history. We all make choices in life.
I really feel for people without work in this country and the leaders of the country do little to improve things but they pay the German piper without a thought.
It must be hard for people to see why there is a threat of strike but when there is the real possibility of nothing for you or your family on retirement. To be honest its hard to think of that day. But without a resolve it will happen.
I’m surprised that the Government haven’t stepped in to resolve this, being the owners of the company. Staff in general have no faith in senior management for what they have done to the ordinary workers and in a round about way the public.
We all really want a resolve ASAP because if the lights go out in the country then our lights will go out as well. Even ESB workers have families..
Why should the customers be in the dark because ESB workers are having problems with their pensions?The customers are paying already for their fat wages.
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