Shakira Martin (June 1, 1986 – August 3, 2016) was a

Jamaican Jamaican may refer to: * Something or someone of, from, or related to the country of Jamaica * Jamaicans, people from Jamaica * Jamaican English, a variety of English spoken in Jamaica * Jamaican Patois, an English-based creole language * Culture ...

model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Jamaica Universe 2011 and represented

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

Miss Universe 2011 Miss Universe 2011 was the 60th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Vibra São Paulo, Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. At the end of the event, Ximena Navarrete of Mexico crowned Leila Lopes (Miss Universe), Leila Lope ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on September 12, 2011.

Early life and career

Martin was born on June 1, 1986, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

. Her family relocated to South Florida in 1989, but would visit her mother's homeland of

frequently. She was a student of

Nova High School Nova High School is a public high school located in Davie, Florida and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is one of four schools that comprise the Nova Center for Applied Research and Professional Development, the othe ...

and graduated in 2004. She then attended

Broward College Broward College is a public college in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. It was established in 1959 as part of a move to broaden Florida's two-year colleges. In 2008 it adopted its current name, reflecting that ...

. Before becoming a model, Martin was a pre-school teacher. Martin competed in a pageant in Miami and came in second. A friend of Martin's convinced her to compete in Miss Jamaica Universe. Martin won the title of Miss Jamaica Universe in 2011 and used her crown as a platform to raise awareness for people affected by

sickle cell anemia Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red b ...

. in 2011, Martin was a part of a toy drive that donated 400 toys to ill children in a Jamaican hospital. She had modeled in countries such as Jamaica, Brazil, Canada and Haiti. Martin was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia at 3 months old. Both of Martin's parents had the trait for the disease and thus had a 25 percent chance of giving it to a child. Her brother is also a carrier of the trait.

Death

According to Martin's mother, Martin wasn't feeling well after a trip to Jamaica. She died at 12:28 a.m. from complications with sickle cell blood clots in both her lungs. She was 30 years old.

References

External links

Martin's Official Facebook pageMartin's InstagramOfficial Miss Universe Jamaica website
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Shakira Jamaican female models 1986 births 2016 deaths Broward College alumni Nova High School alumni Miss Universe 2011 contestants People with sickle-cell disease Jamaican people of American descent Deaths from sickle-cell disease