NHS doctor wins 'people's choice' vote in Miss England ahead of this week's finale

An NHS junior doctor who grew up in Smithy Bridge and holds the current Miss Bradford title is hoping to be crowned Miss England this week after winning the people’s choice vote.

Saskia Fauguel has been ‘fast tracked’ to the top 20 in the finals after receiving 151,000 votes via the Miss England app.
 

Read more: NHS junior doctor hopes to be crowned Miss England after gaining most public votesPublished: 01 August 2021

Saskia, 27, who works at Bradford Royal Infirmary, qualified for the Miss England final after receiving a record-breaking 27,000 votes from the public in the wildcard category.

She now lives in Todmorden and works as a medical junior doctor with a special interest in mental health and specialising in psychiatry at Bradford Infirmary, and has also led projects on suicide prevention awareness and carried out research into alcohol dependency, the severity and relapse, and providing social support.

Saskia is currently undergoing a six-year process of becoming a psychiatrist and has been offered a job with NHS in Greater Manchester.

A former pupil at Rochdale Sixth Form College, Saskia graduated from the University of Bradford in 2019 and subsequently took up junior doctor roles in Grimsby and then Bradford working in psychiatry, ENT (ear, nose and throat) and A&E.

Speaking about her decision to move into medicine – which saw her save her father’s life – Saskia said: “I became a doctor because I always wanted superpowers growing up.

“I never liked the idea of death from the moment I realised what it was. I never wanted anyone around me to be ill or pass away, so I’ve always worked towards preserving life and happiness.

“As a child, it was – and still is – my biggest fear for my parents to pass away. So I trained as a doctor to save people, and whilst I’ve learned some things are inevitable, I can still try and positively impact lives, make them longer and happier, and I’m glad that I did train in medicine because last year that knowledge did save someone: my dad.”

 

 

Saskia had been in bed after finishing an A&E night shift when her brother woke her up as their dad had chest pain.

Thanks to her medical knowledge, Saskia recognised his chest pain as a heart attack, gave her father high dose aspirin – which helps keep the blood from clotting and can reduce heart damage – and rang an ambulance.

Her father insisted it wasn’t a heart attack and not to bother the ambulance. He was rushed to hospital where a percutaneous coronary intervention showed that the clot had spontaneously resolved due to Saskia’s quick action in giving him aspirin, as well as the quick actions from the ambulance.

“There was no lasting damage. It breaks my heart to think what would have happened had I not been there that morning, if I hadn’t just had a night shift, I would have been at work at that time. If I hadn’t been a doctor and known what to do. I try not to think about those alternatives but it gave me a new appreciation for the NHS and being a doctor. It’s very different when it affects you personally, I’ve never been so grateful to be a doctor and that is the best thing that I have ever achieved in my life, to save my dad,” Saskia added.

The Miss England final takes place in Coventry on 27 August.

The final involves a head to head interview/Zoom challenge and a Climate Queen will be crowned after a tree planting pledge challenge for each of the finalists.

The contestants are raising funds for Beauty with a Purpose, a charity created by Julia Morley in 1972 and owned by Miss World which helps disadvantaged children. In addition to Beauty with a Purpose, Saskia is raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

You can support Saskia’s fundraising efforts here, or donate towards planting trees here.

The winner of Miss England will go forward to the 70th Miss World final in Puerto Rico in December with the chance to win $100,000.

You can vote for Saskia by downloading the Miss England app and selecting her image. One vote each day is free.