12 Facts About Eva Ekvall

Eva Monica Anna Ekvall Johnson was a Venezuelan television news anchor, author, advocate in the fight against breast cancer, fashion model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Venezuela 2000.

Eva Ekvall was raised in both the United States and Venezuela and was fluent in English and Spanish from childhood.

Eva Ekvall's father, Eric Ekvall, was an American of Swedish descent, who had lived in Venezuela since the early 1980s and worked as an actor and political consultant.

Eva Ekvall's mother, Dawn Johnson, was born in Jamaica, and once ran a small modelling agency in Alaska, where she met Eva's father.

Aged 17, Eva Ekvall was crowned Miss Venezuela 2000, and the next year was third runner-up in the Miss Universe Pageant.

Eva Ekvall expressed interest in doing radio and could fill in as a temporary host of a radio program on Circuito Onda.

Eva Ekvall married radio producer John Fabio Bermudez in September 2007.

In February 2010, just months after giving birth to her only child, Eva Ekvall was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, and underwent eight months of treatment that included chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a double radical mastectomy.

Eva Ekvall chronicled this experience in a book of photographs, Fuera de Foco, released in December 2010.

Eva Ekvall went on to become an advocate for SenosAyuda, a cancer awareness group.

When told to have had a recurrence of her disease, Eva Ekvall moved to the United States and checked into University General Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Eva Ekvall's death brought an outpouring of condolences from Venezuelans, including some prominent artists and politicians.