Miss International 2013 Bea Santiago reveals: I kinda have kidney failure

Miss International 2013 Bea Rose Santiago at Toronto General Hospital (Photo: bea.santiago/Instagram)

Following her revelation that she has a chronic kidney disease, Miss International 2013 Bea Rose Santiago disclosed to the public that she was diagnosed with kidney failure and now needs a “life-saving transplant.”

It was last August when Bea revealed that she has a chronic disease, which she first thought were just severe migraines. But after she went through some tests, she discovered that what she was experiencing was actually something potentially “more dangerous.”

Blaming her “gym life” for her ailment, Bea then warned the public to be careful of taking pre-workout drinks before doing heavy exercise.

In her Instagram post on Wednesday, December 19, Bea shared, “I was diagnosed months ago, I was in denial and that’s why I left the Philippines to get a second opinion in Tokyo and when it turned out to be a confirmation.”

She continued, “Flew right away to be with my family and my potential live donors. Yes. I will be needing a life-saving transplant.”

Bea said she continues to live through the help of her dialysis machine and of course, her doctors and nurses in the Home Hemo Dialysis Centre in Toronto, Canada.

The former beauty queen said she was not sharing to the world her condition to ask for sympathy, instead, it was for awareness.

“At 14 I had IGA Nephropathy stage 1 (Berger’s disease). I suffered from UTI (urinary tract infection) when I was younger, food poisoning and stress. Apparently, it’s genetics and popular in Asians so please get checked!” she wrote.

Despite her condition, Bea did not negativity pollute her positive mindset.

“I am blessed and I will continue to spread positivity to the world,” she wrote.

“I am healthy and I work out regularly, none of my family suffers from kidney related illness but thing like this happens. Does not mean I’m done. I’m unstoppable and will be healed!

” she continued.

The Masbate-born model was crowned as 2013 Miss International in Tokyo, Japan in December of that year, besting 66 contestants from other countries. Bea is the fifth Filipino to win the title after Gemma Cruz (1964), Aurora Pijuan (1970), Melanie Marquez (1979), and Lara Quigaman (2005).