A Welsh beauty queen is recovering in hospital with serious injuries after a crash that closed part of the M4 for several hours. Darcey Corria, Miss Wales 2022, has been hospitalised after the incident near Bridgend earlier this week.
Organisers of the competition say the 21-year-old beauty queen and black rights advocate is in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, being treated for a number of injuries including a broken pelvis and two breaks to bones in her neck.
They said she is receiving much love and support from her close family and is expected to make a full recovery.
Darcey, who is from Barry, won Miss Wales in May last year and is due to represent Wales at Miss World in May this year.
A spokeswoman for Miss Wales said: "Event organisers at Miss Wales, as well as her family, are hopeful and confident that she will still be able to do this thanks to the incredible team of medics at UHW and her own personal determination."
Darcey is the first person of colour to be crowned Miss Wales in the competition that has been running for 70 years. She is active in campaigning for black rights, having been involved in the Criminal Justice in Wales Anti-Racism Delivery Plan called Together Stronger.
Darcey has also volunteered for Race Equality First, helping people from ethnic minorities integrate into the community through health and fitness. In her biography for Miss Wales, she explained how she hopes to continue to work towards equality for all ethnicities in Wales and empower the women of Wales to chase their dreams.
The M4 eastbound was completely closed for more than three hours as emergency services teams worked at the scene of the crash on Thursday evening (January 19).
Traffic had been stationary following the collision between junction 36 Sarn Services and junction 35 Pencoed. You can get more traffic and travel news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
A statement from South Wales Police read: "We are dealing with a serious road traffic collision which happened on the eastbound carriageway of the M4 motorway between junctions 35 (Pencoed) and 36 (Sarn) which was reported at 6pm this evening.
"Because of the nature of the collision it has been necessary to close the carriageway completely while investigations have been continuing. A female has been taken to the University Hospital of Wales with what are described as serious injuries."
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