Miss America hopefuls use platform to raise awareness 

Three women competing this year are spotlighting their health conditions, like diabetes and MS. A challenge ‘gives you the opportunity to ... serve and empower others,’ Miss Idaho said.

BY MEREDITH ENGEL  

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Friday, September 12, 2014, 4:12 PM

• A
 
• A
 
• A

0

14

SHARE THIS URL

© ADREES LATIF / REUTERS/REUTERSMiss Kentucky, Ramsey Carpenter, won the preliminary talent competition despite her diagnosis with MS.

Beautiful on the inside and out!

Three women competing in this year’s Miss America pageant — airing Sunday night — are using their platforms to raise awareness of their health conditions.

Miss Kentucky, Ramsey Carpenter, doesn’t let her 2010 diagnosis with multiple sclerosis slow her down.

“I have MS,” Carpenter, 24, toldToday.com. “But MS does not have me.”

She’s excelled so much since her diagnosis with the progressive neurological condition that she won Wednesday’s primary talent competition with her fiddle skills.

KT Maviglia, Miss Michigan, has hearing loss that a teacher noticed when Maviglia was in fourth grade. She wore a hearing aid and carried a battery pack, much to her disappointment.

“It was something that I really struggled with when I was younger because in fourth grade it matters if you were popular,” Maviglia, 22, told Today.com. “I went from being the popular kid to the kid who needed special attention. It was hard for me to accept as part of who I was.”

© ADREES LATIF / REUTERS/REUTERSEnlarge

EDWARD LEA/APEnlarge

Miss Michigan, KT Maviglia, and Miss Idaho, Sierra Sandison, aren't afraid to talk about their health.

In high school, she ditched the instruments and just resorted to a front-row seat in the classroom. But soon she began to embrace her uniqueness, even beginning a charity to help kids get hearing aids when insurance won’t cover them.

Sierra Sandison wore the insulin pump that helps her manage her diabetes when she took the stage at the Miss Idaho pageant in July. Now she’s representing her state — and diabetics everywhere — on a national stage.

“I believe that Miss America has given lot of girls in recent years the ability to show diversity in beauty,” Sandison, 20, told Today.com.

She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 18 and inspired by Miss America 1999, Nicole Johnson, who graced the stage with her pump.

“Whenever you have a challenge placed in your life," Sandison told the site, "it gives you the opportunity to grow and serve and empower others."