Making the impossible possible.
A 17-year-old teen with autism and epilepsy was just crowned Miss Dallas Teen USA 2022. She wasn’t alone in her crowning moment , either. Her loyal furry friend AKA service dog, Brady, was right by her side the entire time!
Her win makes major strides for those with disabilities who want to compete in pageants.
Alison Appleby has faced many hurdles in her life.
She was only two years old when she was diagnosed with autism. From there, she spent 16 years having her epilepsy misdiagnosed as “anxiety” and being accused of doing drugs in school.
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“I have focal seizures or absent seizures, so I stare into space,” she explained to the ‘NY Post.’
“Sometimes I’ll be speaking, and it sounds like I’m speaking a different language, but to me, it sounds totally normal,” she added.
“I was constantly being drug-tested, even though I have never done drugs in my life,” she said.
These days, she’s homeschooled through Bridgeway Academy. When Alison was finally diagnosed with epilepsy in May 2021, she said that it “finally made her life make sense.”
A few months after that, she was given her seizure-alert dog, Brady.
“He pretty much hasn’t left my side since I got him,” Alison said. “He’s my best friend, and we are inseparable.” Brady will be in training until he is 2 years old.
Part of his duties is to alert others when Appleby is experiencing a seizure or is about to have one.
He is also being trained to fetch medicine and snacks in order to boost Appleby’s blood sugar and blood pressure.
With her trusty sidekick by her side, Alison competed — and won — the Miss Dallas Teen USA 2022 pageant.
As her first pageant, the win came as a total shock to her. “I bought my dresses three days before the pageant, so I had no idea what I was getting into.”
Her goal was to “show people that you can do it with a disability.”
“I was still terrified the whole time … but having Brady by my side made it so much easier,” she said. “He is my support through it all.”
During the crowning moment, both Alison and Brady were crowned.
This is something Miss Dallas pageant director Jennifer Ortiz said officials purchased as soon as they heard that Appleby would be competing with her service dog. They wanted a dog crown ready in case she won.
“When they crowned Brady, my heart sunk — my heart absolutely melted,” Alison said.
“He didn’t like it at first, but he got used to it pretty fast,” she said about Brady wearing his crown. Ortiz said that Appleby’s win has already “opened many doors.”
“To see someone come in that represents spreading that awareness so well — and she was just phenomenal from the start — it was very heartwarming to see her crowned,” she said.
Alison is just as “thrilled,” especially since competing in pageants always seemed like an impossible dream to her.
“I’ve always dreamed of being a pageant girl, but it just never seemed like I could do it,” she said.
“The judges didn’t let my disability change how they saw me — they judged me as a person.”
