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Woman Battling Breast Cancer Says New Jersey Forced Her to Take New License Photo

A New Jersey woman undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer said the state Motor Vehicle Commission would not let her use an old driver's license photo taken before the treatment.

Joanne Jodry, of Neptune City, told the Asbury Park Press she wanted to renew her driver's license last week at the Freehold office and was told she couldn't keep an old photo showing her with long, blond hair.

The 53-year-old Jodry was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in April and said it's taken a toll on her appearance.

"Clearly, I am bald and I have no eyelashes and this is a temporary condition," Jodry told the paper. "I said, 'I’m undergoing chemotherapy and I will look very different in a few months.' And I said, 'I’d rather not take a picture. I’d rather use the old one.' They said no.”

Jodry said she and her daughter were emotional after she agreed to take the new picture.

An MVC spokeswoman said the agency is bound to comply with state law, which requires a new picture every eight years for security purposes.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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