She refused to be just another statistic. When doctors warned Andrea Andrade she had only months to live, she chose purpose over despair, building a life crammed with love, pageant victories, and hospital visits dressed as a superhero for sick children. The woman once crowned Miss West Coast and Miss Fresno County used her platform not for vanity, but for service, founding “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” to bring joy into the darkest hospital rooms.As the cancer spread and her body weakened, Andrea’s spirit only grew louder. She comforted her parents, loved her brothers fiercely, and poured strength into the man who called her “my eternal love.” Her donated chemotherapy bell now waits in a Fresno cancer center, ready for other warriors to ring. Andrea never got to hear its sound for herself—but every chime will echo her courage, and every saved life will quietly carry her name.
U.S. beauty queen dies at 35 after 9-year battle with colon cancer
