From People Magazine and The [San Bernardino, CA] Sun:

Reigning Miss Iowa USA Abbey Curran is reportedly the first Miss USA contestant and state winner with cerebral palsy. Curran wore leg braces until she was ten and now walks with a limp that occasionally means she needs to lean on a designated escort during pageants. Growing up on a hog farm in Illinois, Curran says she admired the beauty queens at the county fair and decided to pursue the title herself when a teacher told her, “Be realistic. You can’t do that.”

Abbey says, “I hope America doesn’t see a girl who walks differently. I hope they see someone who can compete like anyone else.”

In 2004, Curran founded the nonprofit “Miss You Can Do It,” a beauty pageant for girls and young women with developmental disabilities. She also speaks nationally as a motivational speaker. Curran is a sophomore public-relations major at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa and plans to become a commercial airline pilot.

(People magazine photo)

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