“An incredible adventure”, Lilou, the Sète candidate looks back on the final of Miss Handi France

Lilou, la candidate sétoise, a fait le voyage dans les Hauts de France. DR

L’étudiante sétoise de 19 ans a participé à la finale du concours national Miss Handi France. Une expérience riche d’enseignements.

Saturday May 11, in Billy-Berclau (Hauts de France), in the François-Mitterrand village hall, Sétoise Lilou Ané-Lauret Salomé, represented the colors of the l’ Occitanie and Sète in the election of Miss Handi France. This national competition, created ten years ago, honors people with visible or invisible disabilities. If the young 19-year-old student from Sète did not win the crown, she retains "an incredible adventure". "It did us a lot of good to find ourselves among candidates, great people with whom we had real group cohesion. I also learned a lot about myself and the disability community. The candidates for Miss and Mister Handi France took care of their outfits and put on a show through three fashion shows, in street clothes, evening wear and swimsuits. "This is the outfit where we were the least hot!", smiles Lilou Ané-Lauret Salomé, who parade in front of 100 to 150 spectators.

"On believed me, listened to them and was told "we'll help you"

"It’was not easy because the election lasted five hours from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. But we really only kept the positive. We had a good laugh, we said to ourselves that we had to enjoy it above all", she says. This experience also allowed the young woman to raise awareness of fibromyalgia, an illness that is still very little known. "I established a partnership with the Balaruc thermal baths which allowed me to test treatments related to my illness. It’s tested and approved, I feel less pain. But it was also beneficial because I was believed, listened to and told "we will help you" ". For her part, she intends to get involved for others with disabilities, particularly invisible ones, thanks to her title of Miss Handi Occitanie 2023.