Miss Kentucky teen contestant shows inner beauty

Posted: Sun 3:16 PM, Jan 20, 2013

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - A Miss Kentucky Teen USA contestant who lost three of her limbs to a deadly disease says she joined the pageant to show her inner beauty.

Kristen Saunders, a 17-year-old from Bardstown, lost her legs and one of her arms after being infected with a flesh-eating bacteria in 2005.

The Daily News reports she is one of 35 girls and women who are competing in Bowling Green in the Miss Kentucky Teen USA and Miss Kentucky USA pageants over the weekend.

Preliminary competitions were Saturday night, and the finals begin Sunday evening.

Saunders says she's "here to show beauty within rather than beauty on the outside." She says she wanted to enter the teen pageant to represent people who are insecure about their looks.

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