Harwich's Miss Essex Inspirational shares disability story

Caitlyn Payne, 23, has lived in Bathside her whole life.

In 2019, she was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.

From February to March 2022, Caitlyn was in a coma and diagnosed in September with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), a group of rare inherited conditions which affect connective tissue.

Podcast - Caitlyn Payne also has a podcast where she talks about EDS and other issues such as the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) (Image: Submitted)

Caitlyn said her EDS means the collagen in her body is “broken”, leading to joint dislocation.

She also needs to use a walking-stick and wheel-chair.

Caitlyn was approached by Miss Essex to enter the awards.

She admits that she had a negative perception of beauty pageants before entering, thinking they were for “stereotypical skinny girls, and the able-bodied”.

But she said: “Everyone was so lovely and supportive - helping each other with make-up and dress changes, a massive encouragement."

Awareness - Caitlyn Payne revealed with EDS that she has the hyper mobile type, one of 14 types (Image: Submitted)

Caitlyn said some women raise between £6,000 and £10,000 for their charities, with all contestants fundraising and giving back to the community.

As well as winning an award, Caitlyn made new friends and networked, with contestants following each other online.

Diverse - Caitlyn Payne says pageants are now more diverse with many having 'curve' or disability sections (Image: Submitted)

Caitlyn has now moved in with her partner, who was in favour of her entering a pageant, and said it was good to have friends and family nearby to support her.

She said: “There wasn’t much plus-size or disability representation when I was younger.

“I was only diagnosed about five years ago. Feeling the pain, feeling the symptoms, feeling why am I feeling this way, why cannot I be normal?”

She added: “I want to make sure people know it’s okay to have these issues - they can still do these things”.

“The thing I’ve always lived by is I want to be the person I needed when I was younger.”