17 April 2024 , 09:47
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A beauty queen who was left paralysed after a freak bouncy castle accident has landed a place in the Miss England finals following intense physiotherapy.
Charlotte Grant, 24, from Kirby, Merseyside, was told she would never walk again after she broke her back whilst on a bouncy castle on holiday when she was aged 10. Her symptoms started with the loss of feeling in her legs but doctors also located a large haematoma on her spine which left her in a wheelchair. Experts at Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital told her the devastating news that it was unlikely that she'd walk again. However, two years later she defied the odds and got back on her feet. Now, she has been crowned Miss Liverpool after participating in her first ever pageant runway.
It means the beauty queen will now compete alongside 39 other girls bidding to be crowned the next Miss England at the national finals next month. The cosmetics business owner and part-time model said: "It's been quite a journey - going from not being able to walk to doing a catwalk, a runway in front of people. It just goes to shows that with hard work and determination from a young age you can do and achieve so much."
Charlotte became seriously injured at the age of 10 (No credit)Charlotte had been on holiday in Dumfries, Scotland when she was propelled off the end of the inflatable when somebody else jumped on it. She was forced to miss a year of school as she battled to get back on her feet with a blood clot on her spine leaving her legs paralysed. She continued: "When I was 10 I was on holiday in Scotland with the family. I was on a farm where they have activities and bouncy castles. It's literally like a kids play area. I'd finished bouncing and was walking off the edge and somebody bounced down and I went flying off it."
"It had concrete around it with a little something sprinkled over it. I basically landed flat on concrete. They took me straight from Maybie Farm in Dumfries and to the hospital and they knew I'd broken my back. I was obviously petrified. They didn't pick up a big blood clot on my spinal cord. I got transported from Scotland to Liverpool and that's when they found it was bad."
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"The break itself was fine. It was a break and a fracture. I just had to bed rest. It was the blood clot on the spinal cord which caused the internal damage. I was watching everyone else running and playing, I just had to lay there. The large haematoma on my spinal cord compressed my nerves so the signals from my brain weren't getting through to my legs.
Doctors also located a large haematoma on Charlotte's spine which left her in a wheelchair (No credit)
The beauty queen has made it to the next stage of the competition (No credit)"I was discharged from hospital in a wheelchair and they basically said we don't think she'd be able to walk. I was adamant that I wanted to walk. It was physio every day. The recovery was long. Being told by medical professionals that they don't think you can walk again was scary - but I was just a determined ten-year-old."
Amazingly, Charlotte is now also sporty and active and enjoys doing acrobatics, trampolining and running. She is also a part-time actress. Charlotte said: "I just want to show people you can achieve anything. I went into Miss Liverpool with no experience, I hadn't done any pageants before. I bumped into the organiser and she said have you done pageants before.
"I signed up and ended up winning it. It was very much a Sliding Doors moment. I prefer the modern day pageants. It used to be all about outer beauty, but now it's 50 per cent your outer self and 50 per cent inner self. I was just myself. I know a lot of the girls spent a lot of money on their outfits. I had no outfits - I had to squeeze in my school prom dress.
Charlotte recieved a lot of support growing up (No credit)"I was rooting around the loft. I felt awful as these girls had made all these amazing outfits. I'm in the charity shops around Kirby looking for something to war for the sports round. I'm really looking forward to it, I'm so excited. I can't wait. It will just be such a lovely evening. It's like you're doing it with your friends."
"I just want to get my message across. You don't have to be this stereotypical, blonde hair and blue eyes to win. It's more your inner beauty and if you have a passion about something. I have a good drive and I feel like I can achieve anything." Charlotte will represent Liverpool in the Miss England final, sponsored by Watermans Hair, on May 16-17 at the Grand Station in Wolverhampton.