The moment she stepped onto the stage for the final round the world around her faded to a muted, fuzzy buzz and an echo from the sound system reverberated through the implant in her ear.
But Mia le Roux is used to the challenges of being deaf in a hearing world and took it in her stride – and when she made the top three she dared to believe she might actually see her childhood dream come true.
And it did. The 29-year-old marketing student from Oudtshoorn was crowned Miss South Africa 2024 – the first hearing-impaired woman to take the title.
When the medis met her the day after the pageant she's every inch the beauty queen, gorgeous in a striking red dress, her Miss SA sash draped across her body and the crown on her glossy head – but Mia still has to pinch herself to make sure she isn't dreaming. "Wow," she says.
"I know there's still a lot ahead and I'm here to take things day by day. But I know I want to promote inclusivity."
Mia is all too familiar with the feeling of exclusion. As a child other kids often said hurtful things, such as "deaf children don't go to heaven" and the taunting took its toll.
"I struggled a lot with depression," she says. "It took an incredible amount of work to get to where I am. But there's a line I love: 'I know my worth because I have felt my unworthiness'."
Despite the challenges she faced, her resilience and determination have brought her to a place of empowerment.