FROM the Paralympics to pageants, a woman from Kingswood could be set to become the first wheelchair user to be crowned a national beauty queen.

Chloe Ball-Hopkins, 21, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at age four and born with a rare condition called arthrogryposis, but she is now on the brink of making history.

On Saturday Chloe, a BBC sports reporter, Blue Badge Co ambassador and former para athlete for Great Britain, will be competing in the grand final of Catwalk Perfect UK.

As part of her entry to the pageant, Chloe has been busy raising money for the Brain Tumour Charity in memory of her best friend Lauren Scudamore who died due to a brain tumour in 2012.

Chloe has beaten her personal target of £2,017 raising over £2,191, which combined with her ‘fantastic five’ team pushing donations to over £6,000 so far, largely achieved by a sponsored skydive in the summer.

“If you said to me a year ago that I would be a couple weeks off competing in a national beauty pageant, I would have said, ‘You’ve got the wrong person’,” said Chloe, who won a bronze in the European Championship with the GB para archery team in 2014.

“That’s because of all the stereotypes associated with beauty pageants – but it’s not all about having your hair and nails done, it’s not what people think.

“It is much more about the people and congeniality and there’s a massive charity element to it.”

Months before she was hoping to fly to Rio for the 2016 Paralympics, Chloe was struck down by an illness which took her out of training, and then had to have her shoulder reconstructed, ending her hopes of travelling to Brazil.

Gazette Series:

Instead Chloe focused on her studies and successfully applied for the BBC Kick Off Scheme for trainee sports reporters, which resulted in her landing a role reporting for BBC Points West and Radio Bristol.

“There are times when I think, ‘What am I doing because it’s not really me’, but I am doing it the way I want to do it and I feel I should be doing this," said Chloe, who is from Kingswood, near Wotton.

“There are other times that I get really exciting thinking about it.

“When the negative thoughts come out I think, ‘Shut up Chloe, don’t listen to that voice in your head’.

“I think the athlete in me is kicking in and I keep thinking about how in a few days I could have a crown on my head and be a beauty queen.

“It would be quite a ground breaking and it would send the message, if there’s something you want to do that’s outside your comfort zone you should go ahead and do it.

“If you never leave your safety bubble, that’s not living.

“That doesn’t just apply to beauty pageants, it applies to everything.”

Chloe would like to thank those who joined her on the skydive: Becky Shaw, Derek Aston, Harriet Hicks, Matthew Aston and Maxine Bloor.

She would also like to thank Sarah Beale Catering (and Ann, Jill, Maggie and Tom who helped her) who catered at the roast and raffle which raised £1,086, and also helped throw an afternoon tea event in the summer.