Andreia Pacheco has long been an advocate for people with disabilities, but she’s hoping her latest venture into the world of pageants will help her shine an even brighter spotlight.
Born with Okihiro syndrome — which means she was born without the radial bones in her arms, clubbed hands, and four fingers — the Barrie resident is preparing herself to take the stage as Ms. Barrie 2023 in next spring’s Ms. Canada United World pageant.
“I have always been someone who advocates on behalf of individuals with disabilities,” she told BarrieToday, adding she served as an ambassador for Bloorview MacMillan Children’s Centre (now Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital) from the age of 12 until she was 18. “That’s always been my passion as it is my life experience. It’s been a no-brainer for me.”
That said, despite her own work advocating for individuals with disabilities, Pacheco said she always noticed a trend: She would often be the only person with a disability in most scenarios.
“I’d be the only person with a disability in my whole school … then there was this one thing that would always bother me. I didn’t see anybody like me representing people like me in the beauty industry,” she said.
“I have seen a few people coming forward in wheelchairs doing some modelling, and that’s awesome, but I haven’t seen anyone with a physical disability that, back in the day, was considered to be a deformity.”
Fast forward to 2022, and Pacheco is now a mother of a six-year-old son, who happened to be born with the same disability. It was then, she said, she experienced a bit of an epiphany.
“I stood up and thought to myself, ‘What can I do to help?’”
That is when it dawned on her: She had yet to see a beauty queen who looked like her.
“My son had been having a lot of confidence issues about his arms, and I knew that in order to build confidence, you have to show confidence. In order for me to really show confidence was to come out and show everybody (who) I am, regardless of my disability or if I win or not. For me this journey is the real gift,” she said.
“I would love to keep going up the ranks, but I think the journey is much more important. The message for me is really importan. I am just trying to put my foot in places where I could be of use to the community and of service, and I think the best way to do that is to run for Ms. Canada at the same time and showing everybody that we can do this. I am hoping it will empower other women after me and that next year I will see a bunch of differently abled people competing.”
The competition, she added, is in May 2023, and will include several “typical” nerve-racking pageant categories — including a bathing suit competition as well as an interview — but she is looking forward to being part of the “sisterhood” and elevating other women to do something outside of the box.
“I am a total tomboy. This is absolutely out of my box … but I feel like, why not me? I feel like my ‘why not’ is so much stronger than my ‘why.’ It’s time for people like me to just try.”
