Courtney Lercara, 53, tries her best to avoid mirrors.
In 1996, when she was just 33 years old, she was diagnosed withbreast cancer.
After chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, and radiation, she thought she was in the clear.
Skin Wars Season 3Episode 307
But at the age of 35, she was re-diagnosed.
She had over 20 surgeries, including a double mastectomy, because of her cancer.
And it’s left her with low body confidence.
Skin Wars Season 3Episode 307
“It’s very, very difficult for me to be without clothes on,” Lercara tells SELF.
I don’t like to look at myself without clothes on, and I miss my breasts.
You dont realize how great they were until you lose them."
Skin Wars Season 3Episode 307
Lercara said she’d be willing to participate.
“And Im like, I dont know.
Maybe I dont want to do it.
Skin Wars Season 3Episode 307
Bodypainting was on my list of things to do before I die, but not like this.
Not on a TV show.
But I decided to go way, way out of my comfort zone.”
Skin Wars Season 3Episode 307
The show selected Lercara to participate, and she was shocked.
Even while driving to the studio for filming, she felt hesitant.
She says she doesn’t look at herself nakedlet alone a room full of people and a national audience.
But she kept pushing herself to do it.
“I just kept talking myself into it,” she said.
There were two challenges: first, represent the survivor’s story in a bodypainting from the waist up.
Then, paint the survivor from head to toe, showing their inner warrior.
Lercara broke down in tears when the bodypainting was complete.
“It was awesome to see how they used our stories and put our stories on our bodies.
“So it was pretty incredible.
It definitely changed me, and its an experience that I wish all survivors could get to do.”
And, most importantly, she wants people to live every day to its fullest.
“Just live each day to the fullest and live life while youre here,” she says.
“Get out and see things and do things while you might.
Get out of your comfort zone and do things you think you could never do.
But it was one of the best things Ive ever done in my life.”
Courtney Lercara’s two bodypainting looks.Image Credit: Courtesy of GSN
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Photo Credit: Courtesy of GSN
