Pin-Up Model With Cancer Still Poses Despite Surgery Scars

Right before model Elly Mayday, a self-proclaimed "curvy Canadian," was about to sign a contract with a New York modeling agency last year, she was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer.

At 25-years-old, her illness, carcinoma, is normally seen in women who have already gone through menopause, ABC News reported Tuesday. The plus size model underwent months of chemotherapy in addition to having her uterus removed and losing 40 pounds.

But none of that has deterred Mayday. She currently models lingerie for a company in Canada, baring her scars and now bald head. Mayday wants people to change their perception of what real women look like, ABC News reported. She now has a following, with 74,000 supporters on her Facebook page.

"In the lingerie industry, it's not something you do," Mayday said, according to ABC News. "It's all about long hair and big breasts and arched backs. But it's important to show what real women look like underneath their clothes. Most people have some issues they are dealing with," Mayday said.

Mayday's first shoot after her surgery wowed the owners of the lingerie company, Forever Yours Lingerie.

"We saw her completely natural body. It was bold and amazing," Sonya Jenkins, the company's co-founder, told ABC News.

Before she was diagnosed, Mayday's measurements were 34-29-44. During that time in February 2013 she worked for Forever Yours Lingerie, based in Vancouver.

"At the time, she was a size 14 and had a nice bust and small waist and big, full hips and behind," Jenkins told ABC News. "We wanted to represent that look."

But Mayday's life permanently changed just a few months later. Mayday felt something was wrong with her body, but doctors did not figure out what was wrong at first.

"I was told it was just a cyst so many times, and I just knew deep down in my heart that there was something else wrong," Mayday told CTV, according to ABC News. "It was kind of a point of realization, either, 'Do I stop now, or do I keep on going and be the person that I was raised to be and the person that I know I am?"

Mayday's battle with cancer isn't over. The model underwent surgery to remove one of the last tumors this week, ABC News reported.

Mayday's family told ABC News they are hopeful.