ALEXANDRA Hills mum Danielle Hayes has made the brave decision to pull out of the Miss of Australia Beauty Pageant in Melbourne amid fears for her child's health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Hayes said the pageant had been postponed due to coronavirus but she was not willing to travel on a plane as it would put her daughter at risk of contracting the disease.
"My little girl is four and she has had pneumonia four times already," she said.
"We have been positive that if she gets COVID-19, she will die. That put me in a spot that I could not risk going on a plane.
"Yeah it was in September but you just don't know who is carrying it or where it is."
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Ms Hayes said it was her dream to represent Queensland and win the crown but there were far more important things in life.
Despite the heartbreak of missing the finals, she was determined to take part in future beauty pageants.
"It was (going to be) pretty big because you were representing Queensland," Ms Hayes said.
"You go to Melbourne to compete against up to 38 other contestants for the title. Once you do get crowned, you then go around in your community and help out.
"If someone is doing a fundraiser, you would help them raise funds.
"I'm a huge fan of beauty pageants. One of my dream titles was to become miss of Australia."
The strict pageant rules mean Ms Hayes will now have any record of her participation wiped from the competition's history books.
"I'm not even allowed to wear my sash anymore," she said.
"Anything to do with the pageant on my Facebook page has been deleted because I am no longer a contestant."
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