Intercontinental crown for Cara

Cara Hunter won the beauty pageant last week at the City Hotel in Derry after being encouraged to enter a similar competition last year by her friend Zachary Geddis who took his own life earlier this year.

The two were close friends since they met as 12-year-olds at Dominican College in Portstewart.

Cara paid tribute to “inspirational” Zachary saying: “He inspired me to enter Miss Derry last year, he was the driving force behind it. He was the one who was sitting at the end of the catwalk with my Daddy when I came out, cheering and winking at me.

“I know beauty pageants can be viewed as being cheesy but I wanted to enter Miss Intercontinental as it was organised by the Me4Mental mental health charit.”

As well as representing Northern Ireland at the Miss Intercontinental finals in India next year, Cara is also now an ambassador for the charity.

“I also want to use my title as a platform to speak out about mental health and promote the Zachary Geddis Break the Silence Trust which will be launched on October 16 on what would have been his 21st birthday. It’s such a sensitive subject and if it wasn’t for Zachary’s encouragement, I wouldn’t be here. Perhaps if Zachary had known that it was OK to talk openly, we might not be where we are now.”

Zachary died in March and Cara said it has been incredibly difficult adjusting to life without her best friend.

“He was just so loved. He was a gorgeous, 6ft 2 man who just held the attention of any room when he walked into it.

“He was so encouraging and made you feel the best you could be.”