REAL HERO: Christina Keegan, Unsung Hero

Miss Nevada Christina Keegan has been nominated for the Unsung Hero category by Gardnerville resident Michael Smith.

Smith said Keegan's personal platform of rape education and recovery prompted his nomination.

In the hopes of helping just one person, Keegan speaks openly about being raped after someone slipped a drug into her drink while studying in Spain four years ago.

"I was experiencing the effects of being a victim and recognized that I needed help and sought resources," she said.

After discovering the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, Keegan said she turned things around.

Keegan is a 2004 graduate of Douglas High. A former Miss Carson Valley in 2008, Keegan graduated from the Undergraduate Women's College at Rosemont, Pa., with a bachelor of science degree in biology in 2008.

In January at the Miss America pageant, for effectively promoting her platform, Keegan won a $2,000 Quality of Life scholarship as second runner-up in that category.