One of her goals was representing people with disabilities on the pageant stages, and proving that the naysayers were wrong.
“A bystander standing there overhearing our conversation said ‘you can’t do that, because you have a disability, and pageant girls don’t have disabilities,’” Alison recalled to KTEN.
Competing in a pageant was a scary new experience for the teen: she told Fox News Digital that she bought her dresses three days before the pageant and “had no idea what [she] was getting into,” unlike many other beauty queens who spend years prepping.
But thankfully, Alison wasn’t alone — she had an exceptional companion by her side every step of the way.
Brady, her golden retriever and in training as a service dog, was her companion. Alison was diagnosed two years ago with epilepsy and requested a seizure alert canine. Brady was adopted in 2021.
Brady will provide invaluable services to Alison: he has been learning to alert others when Alison is having a seizure and to fetch medicine and snacks when Alison’s blood sugar is low. But on top of that, he’s proven to be a loyal and loving companion.
“He hasn’t left my side since I got him,” Alison told Fox News Digital. “He’s my best friend, and we are inseparable.”
“I was still terrified the whole time,” Alison said of the pageant experience,” but having Brady by my side made it so much easier.”
“He is my support through it all.”
Alison’s mother Beth Appleby said she was glad her daughter had her service dog by her side: “I wasn’t nervous because she has Brady, who takes good care of her,” she told KTEN.
And despite being a newcomer to the pageant circuit, Alison thrived and won the judges’ hearts with her interview answers.
“Alison really won the entire pageant in an interview,” pageant director Jennifer Ortiz told Fox News. “She was just absolutely amazing — the way that she spoke, she was brilliant, very communicative with our judges.”
“She’s just a phenomenal woman all the way around.”
Alison was shocked when she was declared the winner of this pageant. The pageant also received a special crown for Brady, as well as a crown for the teen.
It made Alison’s victory even sweeter to share the moment with her loyal dog: “When they crowned Brady, my heart sunk — my heart absolutely melted,” she told Fox News.
Alison will now compete in Miss Texas Teen Pageant next May, after she has won. When she’s not doing pageants, Alison is giving back through philanthropic work: an archer for the Junior Olympic Archery Development Program, Alison competes in a team that raises money for cancer patients. She also volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association.
Alison won the Miss Dallas Teen pageant and was a role model to teens with disabilities.
“Don’t let your setbacks make you give up on your dreams,” she said. “You don’t have to give up on life just because you have an illness.”
What an inspiring story — congrats to Alison and her loyal dog Brady on this incredible victory.
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