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A Beauty Queen's Challenge
Thursday
July 19, 2001
Many
girls dream of becoming Miss America, and Liane
Mark was one of them. She says, “I was a
dancer and I loved to do theater and it just seemed
kind of natural to be on stage and do the pageant
thing."
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But
ironically on the night she won the crown for Miss Waikiki,
Liane noticed something very strange.
She explains, “When I took off my 4 and a half inch
pageant heels that night, I noticed my feet and heels
felt numb and tingly. So of course I just thought it was
my shoes.”
It wasn't her shoes, it was Multiple Sclerosis.
Liane says, “I was just shocked. I was like what?
No!!"
MS is a chronic and often debilitating disease that attacks
the central nervous system. Symptoms can be mild such
as tingling and numbness in the limbs or more severe like
tremors, imbalance, loss of vision, and even paralysis.
| The
Multiple Sclerosis Society advocates using the ABC
drugs to help allievate the symptoms of MS. For
more information about Multiple Sclerosis and the
ABC drugs go to the official
Multiple Sclerosis Society website or consult
your physician. |
After her diagnosis, Liane's family and friends rallied
around her when she began taking injections of the drug
Avonex, one of the newest treatments for slowing the progression
of the disease.
Liane says, “I've been so lucky that my symptoms
have been mild. I'm not having any paralysis and I'm not
having problems with my vision."
Liane, like others such as Annette Funicello, David L.
Lander and Montel Williams, Liane is using her celebrity
to raise money for a cure. She adds, “I really have
a mission. This pageant, this title and crown really gives
you a microphone. If I can help one person to get to the
doctor."
Using MS as her platform, Liane recently competed in the
Miss Hawaii 2001 pageant.
This time Liane was runner up, but she's not giving up
on becoming Miss America or on finding a cure for MS.
She says, “I really believe success is not what happens
to you, it's what you do with what happens to you."
That makes Liane Mark a true winner!
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