Kelly Crump shares initial reaction to seeing her mastectomy scar in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 'The first thing I said was f***'

Kelly Crump is reflecting on her journey with breast cancer after becoming the first woman to pose for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition with a visible mastectomy scar.

In the May 2022 issue, the 43-year-old guests model stood before the camera in a blue bathing suit, which completely exposed her right, reconstructed breast — and the scar she received from undergoing a mastectomy years earlier, at age 38. The body positivity influencer, who shares her ongoing dealings with metastatic breast cancer with her more than 27,000 followers on Instagram, told InStyle in a new interview that she was initially insecure about the publication choosing the exposed-breast photo, explaining, "The first thing I said was 'F*ck. They used that photo.'" However, she soon changed her mind.

"A scar is just your skin healing," she told the magazine. "It’s not anything that makes you a bad person."

Though the social media star has had moments of insecurity after her surgery, she admitted that her relationship with her body had not been good before her breast cancer diagnosis, claiming, “I was unhappy with my body for 38 years.” Growing up in the ’90s, she said she struggled with trying to fit into the "heroin chic" look. Cancer allowed her to find ways to appreciate her body.

"During cancer treatments nobody is noticing that you have stretch marks, cellulite, or how big your pores are," Crump noted.

Crump recently reflected on how cancer has affected her mental health in an Instagram post — a video of herself at various points in her life, including when she chose to shave her head due to the hair loss from chemo. Her caption began, "I was not prepared for a cancer diagnosis, especially at 38yrs old. Nor was I prepared for ALL that comes with it and how life changing it really is. What does get me half way through most of the time is my mental strength…"

In an earlier post, she talked about finding appreciation for her life, despite having to undergo routine cancer treatments.

"We all have hardships in some form or fashion… but don’t wait until you have something happen that completely changes your life," she wrote, "before you start appreciating what you have today, right now, in this moment."

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