Miss Indiana Teen wins title after emergency surgery
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This year’s Miss Indiana Teen has her new title and quite the story to go along with her crown. Keegan Connor went into last month’s competition hours after having her appendix removed. Now, she says the whole ordeal was a blessing in disguise.
“It really is an important part of my journey,” Connor, 16, said. “I am Miss Indiana Teen, part of the Miss America Organization, and it has just been crazy to get to say that out loud.”
Being crowned queen is still surreal, Connor says. What’s crazier, though, is that Connor was hospitalized hours before the Miss Teen Indiana pageant even started.
“That weekend, before the whole competition started, I started having stomach pains. And we thought it was just a 24-hour bug, but then it ended up being acute appendicitis and I had to go to the doctor and go get surgery,” Connor said.
“Appendicitis starts and it only progresses. It is not going to get better, only worse,” Katie Giesting, a Nurse Practitioner with Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital pediatric surgery and trauma team, said.
Giesting says Connor needed her appendix removed.
“She was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and transferred to our center so she could have a laparoscopic appendectomy,” Giesting said.
“I told them I had a pageant,” Connor said.
The doctors came up with a plan to safely help Connor and still allow her to compete.
“The team was wonderful here and, again, they took into consideration every factor that I would be going through, throughout the week. During the surgery, one of the anesthesiologists actually said she put in a smaller tube for me so that my voice wouldn’t be so hoarse during the week. That really made me feel like my voice was heard,” Connor said.
The Ascension St. Vincent surgical team only made a small incision and minimal recovery was needed.
“I actually got my surgery the exact same time that the whole Miss Indiana week started, at 10 Monday morning. And I ended up going to rehearsals that night after I was released from the hospital at 4:30 p.m. because I just wanted to be there so bad,” Connor said.
Then, it was time for the evening gown and talent portions, where her voice was clearly intact. However, she did need a little help backstage.
“All the girls backstage were really nice. I couldn’t put on my own shoes because I couldn’t bend over. So all of the girls, all the backstage helpers, were helping me put on shoes and my dresses and making sure I was comfortable,” Connor said.
For most of the week, the judges didn’t know about the surgery. Finally, after the interview, Connor mentioned what happened.
“We never talked about it in my interview. So I said, ‘We never talked about this, but Monday, I had an emergency appendectomy,’ and their jaws dropped to the floor,” Connor said.
What’s also jaw-dropping, is that this isn’t Connor’s first surgery.
“Keegan Cares is where I advocate for scoliosis because when I was 13, I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis,” Connor said. “So I have 8 titanium screws in my back and a cord that is like a tether.”
Scoliosis is not checked for in schools anymore. That’s what Connor is hoping to change with Keegan Cares. She is going to state leaders with the Keegan Cares Bill to push for scoliosis health checks and is meeting with state representatives in December.
“We are so incredibly proud of her for her perseverance and knowing she worked so hard to get where she is,” Giesting said.
Back at the hospital, Connor is a picture of perseverance — proof that hard work, willpower, and a little help can achieve big dreams.
“I didn’t realize I had all this strength in me, I didn’t realize that I could go through something like this,” said Connor. “It was really a blessing in disguise.”
Connor will compete in the Miss America Teen pageant in January.