Now insulin pump is the new black

Sierra Sandison made sure her insulin pump was visible on stage.

Diabetic beauty queen wears medical device on stage in Miss Idaho contest.

An American beauty queen has become a figurehead for diabetes sufferers after winning Miss Idaho contest while wearing her insulin pump.

Sierra Sandison, 20, appeared on stage during the swimsuit parade with the pump attached to her bikini, and challenged other sufferers of type-1 diabetes not to let their condition hold them back.

Sandison was diagnosed with the condition in February 2012. "For a while, I pretended that I didn't have diabetes, hoping it would go away. That led to crazy blood sugars, of course, and a very sick, grumpy and discouraged Sierra," she said.

When a friend suggested she compete in a local beauty pageant, Sandison decided she could promote awareness of diabetes. Her first foray into beauty pageants was unsuccessful, but second time she won the title of Miss Magic Valley.

Sandison was injecting insulin, and was unconvinced about a pump.

"I didn't want people to see a weird-tubey-machine-thing attached to me all the time, and could not wrap my head around having a medical device on my body for the rest of my life," she said.

She changed her mind when she discovered that Nicole Johnson, Miss America in 1999, wore a pump.

Sandison made sure her pump was visible on stage last weekend, and posted a picture on her Facebook page. She also created a Twitter hashtag #showmeyourpump and thousands of Twitter users posted pump photographs.

"I would never have dreamed of posting a swimsuit picture on social media," Sierra wrote on her Facebook page. "But diabetics from all over the country have been asking to see me and my insulin pump on the Miss Idaho stage. "It is terrifying walking out on stage in a swimsuit, let alone attached to a medical device."