New York Post - 19.08.2019

New York Post, Monday, August 19, 2019

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enormous challenge. Once, she wore a tank top

to the gym but then spent two hours

convincing herself to go inside. “I couldn’t

pretend to have an arm,” she says.

But DeJesus says she pushed herself to don a

bathing suit because she loves the beach. She

wore her first bikini just two months after the

accident, on a trip to Miami. She says she felt

self-conscious, but tried to see her scars as

badges of her survival. “I was stronger than the

propeller,” she says.

Now, she says, “I [have] accepted my scars.”

And the experience has given her a new sense

of purpose as an advocate. In September, she’ll

be walking in the Runway of Dreams gala and

fashion show, which features disability-friendly

designs, during New York Fashion Week.

“I was really into fashion and still am,” she says,

adding that she hopes more companies will

start making stylish adaptive clothing. “I can still

be sexy and feminine.”

by MARY HUHN and JANE RIDLEY

Photos by BRIAN ZAK

P

LENTY of people struggle with self-doubt

when faced with wearing a bathing suit. But

for these four women — who have collec-

tively endured a horrific boating accident,

life-threatening Crohn’s disease, a double

mastectomy and dramatic weight loss —

sporting a bikini is a symbol of all that

they’ve conquered.

Here, they proudly rock two-pieces and tell The Post

how they triumphed over adversity and got their

confidence back.

Bathing suit: Trina Turk “Indo Solids” off the shoulder bandeau, $80, and Trina Turk

“Getaway Solids” high-waist bottom, $62, both at TrinaTurk.com; Jewelry: Washed

Ashore “Tide” hoops in medium, $1,160, and Washed Ashore “Harbor” hand chain,

$410, both at WashedAshore.co

TURN THE PAGE FOR MORE PROUD BIKINI BEAUTIES

SHE SURVIVED A

TERRIBLE ACCIDENT

In October 2017, Kristina DeJesus, 32,

was boating on Lake Travis in Austin,

Texas, when tragedy struck: She was

pulled into the boat’s propeller in a

horrifying accident.

She used her experience as an intensive-

care unit nurse to help save her own life. “I

told my rescuers what to do, such as elevate

my leg, give me fluids and apply pressure to

my wounds — and call my husband,” says

DeJesus, who lives in Cranford, NJ.

Yet eventually, she lost her right, and

dominant, arm to a full amputation, and had

to have her right thigh and breast

reconstructed. She finished her 10th, and

hopefully final, surgery earlier this month.

She says that at first, letting people see

that she was missing a limb was an

Challenges changed their lives and bodies, but these four

women say they’re stronger for it. They’re flaunting their

strength — and their stuff — in stunning bikinis

BEYOND

SWIM DEEP