Beauty queen Nicole Kelly born with one arm inspires disabled children to chase their dreams
Nicole Kelly, 23, from Davenport in Iowa, America, beat off hundreds of rivals to take the Miss Iowa 2014 crown and is now hoping to encourage children with disabilities to pursue their dreams.
Nicole is using her success to give talks in schools about how to overcome disability.
She was born without a left forearm, but the university graduate says she has never let it hold her back.
Before winning the pageant she worked on a Broadway play in New York.
"As I grew up I learned to counterbalance the initial stares I received from people with an outgoing personality that would not give in."
"This means that I tried everything, from baseball, to dance, to diving - there is nothing I would not try."
"I found my passion within a world where I was giving people permission to stare - the stage."
She has launched a campaign called The Power of One to encourage people to embrace their differences, and meets parents of children with disabilities.
"Meeting the parents of amputee and physically differently-abled children has been a shocking experience at times."
"I had assumed everyone else's parents would be like mine, but many are far more concerned about limiting their child's life to protect them from harm."
"Every day I am out in the community speaking with people. I encourage people to share their stories about how they've felt different and celebrate it."
Music by Kevin MacLeod /Montauk Point/
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/
Intro by TeknoAxe /Cheesy Intro/
http://teknoaxe.com/Home.php
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