Ana Gabriela Molina de los Santos is a 24-year-old psychology graduate, model and motivational speaker who was born without arms. Though the latter is a minor detail in the context of who she is as a whole, Molina wants to use her disability to inspire others. The model is competing in the state’s pageant and if she wins, she will be the first disabled woman to compete for the Miss Mexico Crown.
Loving herself as she is has been a process, she told Reuters. The publication visited her in the eastern part of Coatzacoalcos, and Molina was all smiles.
“When I wake up and look in the mirror, I see it, it’s there,” she said. “It’s physical. But, I’ve been living 24 years with this disability so, for me, it’s not a disability. I feel like any other normal person because I’ve lived my life like that. So, for me, my disability is not a limit… on the contrary.”
“I’m going to face the same tests as everyone else, and I’m going to get through them,” Molina said.
Molina won the Miss Nanchital 2020 competition last year and has garnered international attention since. The goal is to win big, but Molina said all of this has already exceeded expectations.
The Miss Veracruz competition takes place in March and Miss Mexico pageant takes place in June.