BOUNTIFUL -- Amy Davis, Miss Utah 2004, arrived home from the Miss America Pageant late Sunday night with a fresh perspective. The petite brunette from Bountiful didn't win the coveted crown but did take first place in the swimsuit/fitness competition.
While representing the state of Utah at the pageant in Atlanta, Ga., last week, she recounted an experience at a Veteran's Administration Hospital to her mother, Kathryn Davis.
"She was talking to one of the patients who had had an injury to the frontal lobe, the same area Amy did," said Kathryn.
"He asked her if she wanted to see it, then pulled off his (protective) helmet and showed her that the front part of his forehead was gone. He was riding in a Jeep and hit a land mine while in Iraq."
As the national spokesperson for the Brain Injury Association of America, Davis has spoken to many individuals at hospitals and public events. She said the main reason she wanted to participate in the Miss America competition was the voice it would give her to alert the nation to brain injury issues.
Davis is back home and ready to speak to the public about preventing brain injury and assisting individuals trying to deal with it.
Before the pageant last week Davis' public appearance schedule was about three to five speaking engagements per week. Now that she's back home, that will step up to three to five appearances per day across the state.