She?s elegant in a ball gown and confident in a swimsuit, but when it comes time to take the stage, Miss Maryland keeps one thing hidden.
The 7-inch scar across her back and several smaller ones the size of a pencil eraser are easily covered with makeup, but they made a life-altering impression on Brittany Lietz, 20, of Edgewater.
Beginning at age 17, Lietz used tanning beds four times a week for 25 minutes per visit, followed by sunbathing sessions without sunscreen.
After having an unusual mole checked by a doctor, Lietz was diagnosed with stage two melanoma last April. She was only 20 years old.
“If I waited another month to see a doctor, I probably would?ve died,” Lietz said, who attributes the cancer to excessive tanning.
After winning the title of Miss Maryland, Lietz has taken on an active role in preventing teenagers from making the same mistake she did and encourages “healthy alternatives” such as self-tanning lotions.
According to Lietz, her young age helps to prove that skin cancer “doesn?t only happen to old people,” making teenagers relate to the issue.
Lietz is now studying at the University of Maryland Nursing School in Baltimore and preparing for the Miss America Competition in September.
For this pageant, she plans to stick with self-tanner. “Now when I?m next to another girl in bathing suit, I?m just as tan as she is from going to a tanning bed, but I?m not killing myself doing that,” she says.
