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Miss Hertfordshire deutsch

The 18-year-old Lucy-Anne Brookes from Borehamwood, 30km north of London, participated in the Miss Hertfordshire beauty contest in June 2005 despite a cast and being on crutches.

Two weeks before she hurt her right knee in a car accident but did not went to see a physician. Then, a few days before the event, she collapsed in the shower. She was brought to hospital immediately. But following an x-ray, doctors were unable to determine the cause of the swollen knee and decided to immobilize her knee as a precaution. A white cylinder cast was applied that covered her leg but left her foot free. Furthermore she had to walk with crutches.

The young lady was adamant that she did not want to take part in the competition in plaster, but after some gentle persuasion from the organisers, she changed her mind. For most of the competition she managed to hide her cast under long dresses and skirts, but still needed her crutches to hobble around the stage. She was able to take part in the club wear and evening wear rounds of the contest, had a short interview, but she was spared from the catwalking and dancing sections.

After all, the handicapped teenager finished third in the competition behind the 21-year-old Rachel Roper who became Miss Hertfordshire 2005 and the 22-year-old Lara Olu. "I would have been confident because I do dancing, I do acting, I'm really confident chatting, but with my leg in plaster I didn't expect to be second runner-up at all," said Lucy-Anne. "I was also really worried that people were going to think that it was a sympathy thing, but I don't think that they did, and I'm really pleased."

Three days later the blonde returned to hospital to have exploratory keyhole surgery of her knee. But she already had the next competition in mind where she was qualified: the final of Miss Essex 2005. Until then she was sure to be on her feet again.