Dalene Kurtis, Miss September, 2001

Dalene Kurtis, Miss September, 2001Dalene Kurtis arrived in Los Angeles with a bang, but not the type she expected. Shortly before her photo shoot, the 23-year-old Apple Valley, California native found herself in a seven-car pileup on the freeway. "My car was totaled and my life flashed before my eyes," she says. "Ever since then I've been really grateful for the good things in my life." Dalene was driving home that day for her parents' anniversary in Bakersfield, California,...