A model who lost his left arm to stage 4 bone cancer spreads his message of hope through social media.

Sean Lester Beltran, 20, refused to give up on his dreams of becoming a celebrity in the Philippines despite losing an entire limb to the disease.

At the young age of 16, he dropped out of school in Bataan province to help his parents earn money, venturing into the capital Manila to try his luck at auditions and take his shot at stardom.

He also quickly built a following on social media thanks to his good looks and dancing skills. To improve his chances at being scouted, he began to lift weights at a local gym to improve his scrawny physique - a point of insecurity for the budding star.

However, it wasn't long before a persistent pain started plaguing his left arm.

Sean said: 'I thought the pain meant my workouts were paying off and my muscles were growing. But my arm hurt constantly for almost two months, so I tried to have it massaged.'

He also consulted a witch doctor to help him recover, but when that too failed, Sean and his family finally decided to seek medical help, especially as his left shoulder had swollen noticeably.

In June 2021, he was diagnosed with bone cancer or osteosarcoma, which had already escalated to stage 4.

He said: 'There was a crack inside my bones, and the doctors found a small tumour there. I cried so much at the time. I didn't think something like that would happen to me.'

His stricken mother Leslie also shared his grief, saying: 'I lost all my strength when he was diagnosed. I could only sit there and cry. I couldn't believe it since my son has always been so strong.'

Sean underwent several sessions of chemotherapy, which appeared to have reduced the tumour's size. But since the cancer was already in such a severe state - having grown to a whopping 45kg mass attached to his shoulder - he decided to have it cut out altogether - along with his left arm, on June this year.

Leslie said: 'When I found out they had to amputate him, I was scared. I thought about how he would face people, and what his life would be like after the surgery.'

Sean, however, carried on with life as usual, not letting the ordeal dampen his spirits. Today, he finds purpose in inspiring others to not be beaten down by life's challenges.

He said: 'I want to give hope to those who have lost it. I want to show them that even if I look like this now, I'm still fighting and living.'

Sean is scheduled for another surgery after doctors found small nodules in his lungs. He added he and his family are seeking financial help as the previous operation had emptied their savings.