Chayenne van Aarle, last year's winner of the Miss Belgium competition, was seriously injured in a car accident on Tuesday. She was taken to hospital after sustaining injuries to her head, neck and face.
Miss Belgium 2022 was on the E17 motorway at 13:32 when she failed to notice a truck starting to slow down in front of her. Unable to brake in time, she ran into the back of the vehicle with emergency services only managing to extract her from the wreck over half an hour later.
Van Aarle told VRT NWS on Friday that she had no recollection of the crash. "I had been under too much pressure beforehand and felt drained," she explained, "in all actuality, I just didn't have enough energy to drive."
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Glad to be out of hospital with no further serious injuries, she said the incident is a reminder that "you don't have to be drunk or texting to cause an accident," adding that "being mentally unbalanced can be just as dangerous."
"I now know that you have to be in a good mindset when you get into a car." She added that she will try "not to put too much pressure on myself and to stay away from people who have a negative influence on me."
