Tina Earls had a sore in her nostril in 2012, but she didn’t think much of it.
When she tilted her head, fluids would drip out, and the left side of her face would go numb. She put up with the itching and a lump for almost two years, until she was diagnosed with stage two nasal cancer in May 2014. When she heard the news, the phone fell from her hands. She was offered radiotherapy, but with a warning: it could leave her blind, and she would have to be fed through a tube for the rest of her life. Tina chose something else: having her entire nose removed. The doctor was hesitant to disfigure her permanently, but she was certain: “What’s the point of being beautiful if I’m dead?”.
Within six months, she had a prosthesis to cover the huge triangle left on her face. But the adhesive irritated her skin, and after two years of discomfort, she stopped wearing it. Today, she goes out with the opening exposed. If someone stares at her for a long time, she stares back and smiles. “There’s nothing more beautiful than being alive,” she says.
