Bentlee Graham was crowned the 2023 National American Little Miss Missouri Covergirl Princess, on July 7. Bentlee became a princess that night, with no way of knowing that only three weeks later she would become a ‘heroic princess,’ by saving herself and her mom, Casey Graham, from a fire in their home.
On the evening of Friday, July 28, Bentlee and her mom were home getting ready to swim. After preparing the self-cleaning oven and opening a window, Casey joined her daughter in the back bedroom to watch a movie. Five minutes later the hallway smoke alarm started going off, which Graham said had never happened before, even with the self-cleaning oven working.
“I opened the door and black smoke rolled in on us,” recalls Graham. Bentlee called 911 and the dispatcher instructed them to get to the closest door, which was on the other side of the house and not possible to get to. They were instructed to open a window and kick out the screen, but the window wouldn’t open. After being instructed to break out the window, Graham recounts, “I had a panic attack and froze because I thought the jagged windows would cut Bentlee.” But the dispatcher said, “Ma’am, you HAVE to get her out. We can fix broken bones and cuts and bruises, but not smoke inhalation.”
“At that point, Bentlee started throwing pillows and blankets out the window and grabbed a king-sized pillow and just surfed right out,” said Graham. After seeing her do that, Graham followed suit.
Once outside Bentlee was yelling for help and Ty Richner, from Pleasant Hope, stopped to help. Richner first was able to save Bentlee’s cat and then turned on the garden hose and went to war with the fire. Ebenezer Firefighters arrived about 40 minutes into the fire.
“But if it wasn’t for Ty we wouldn’t have a structure standing,” says Graham, “he was nothing less than a real-life hero and he deserves recognition!” The Grahams haven’t seen Richner since the fire but they really want to be able to thank him.
Bentlee remembered what she had been taught at school and because of that, she was able to save her mom and herself. On Friday, Aug. 18, Bentlee was honored by the 9-1-1 Dispatch team, Pleasant Hope Fire Department, and other agencies that assisted during the fire.
Keeping the faith
Her introduction speech for the state competition in which she won her crown was this:
"Creative and faith driven my name is Bentlee Graham. I am 6 years old and proudly represent Marshfield, Missouri. I love to race 4-wheelers and ride side-by-sides and proudly express my faith. When I grow up I want to tell everyone of Jesus. All girls are fearfully, wonderfully made!"
Bentlee also took the trophy for the Missouri Heart of Service award and Spirit of America award; she placed third runner-up for casual wear and was top 10 out of all girls that attended the entire pageant. Our main need is to help raise money so our very own 2023 Miss Missouri Covergirl Princess can take the big title of Miss USA at Thanksgiving!!
The Grahams had worked hard to collect items to have an auction to raise money for Bentlee to compete in the Little Miss USA pageant. The pageant is held Thanksgiving week in Orlando, Florida. All the items they had collected for this effort were lost in the fire. “We have to start from ground zero,” said Graham. To make this happen they need approximately $20,000. At this point, sponsorship and items donated would be greatly appreciated.
Family and friends have set up a gofundme account for donations and there is also an Amazon wishlist to help them get items lost in fire.
https://gofund.me/996fd33c
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/23935DLF2XGZY?ref_=wl_share
