Scout Bassett Twenty-year-old Scout Bassett has been beating the odds since she was an infant. First, there was the fire that took her right leg and half her left foot. Then, before she was even a year old, Scout was left on the doorstep of an orphanage in Nanjing, China. She was forced to perform manual labor, beaten, nearly starved and given no education. "I had a very unusual childhood, and at times horrific," says Scout. She lived at the orphanage for seven years, until she was adopted by Joe and Susi Bassett, who brought her to Harbor Springs, Michigan. Scout’s prosthetic journey began as soon as she arrived home. Her parents took her to a prosthetist in Petoskey, Michigan to get her a new prosthetic leg. In the orphanage, a prosthesis had been fashioned for her using scraps belonging in someone’s garbage, including masking tape, leather straps and metal rods, so they were anxious to replace it with something better. Unfortunately, due to the unusual shape of her stump, the prosthetist was unable to fit her. Scout’s parents then consulted with physicians in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Scout had her first surgery to remove a bone sticking out of the back of her stump, as well as reconstruction of her left foot and removal of her large toe which had been deformed in the fire. After a few months of healing, she was able to have a prosthesis made. But growing up in a small town of 1,600 people, it was not easy to be a child with a prosthesis. Scout was always having to explain her leg and could hardly go anywhere without stares or calls from other children of, “Mommy, look at her!” “Growing up with a prosthetic leg, that might have been harder than being in the orphanage,” says Scout. Scout tried playing team sports including basketball, softball, soccer and volleyball. But the coaches would never put her in a game, and Scout was not given the support and guidance she needed to use her prosthetic limb to it‘s fullest, and live the “normal” life she dreamed of. At age 13, Scout met Stan Patterson here at POA, and her life was changed. “He has brought me from walking to walking really well to doing sports and things I never thought possible,” says Scout. Stan suggested Scout might find more success in individual as opposed to team sports. In 2002, while on a visit with Stan, she was able to attend the Track and Field World Championships for the physically challenged. Scout decided she wanted to run in that race, and Stan made a special running leg which would allow her to do so. “I finished last,” recalls Scout. “(But) it did light a fire in me to be active on a different level. That’s when I started running. I learned how to bike about four years later and swim around the same time.” Also in 2002, Scout met people from the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), which has given her the means to be competitive, receiving her first grant from them about a year later to travel to competitions. She is now a spokesperson for the CAF. “Now I was in the company of amputees who were also athletes,” she says. “Seeing them do it, I knew it was possible.” As Scout got older she also realized that many of the looks and comments she received as a child were not necessarily with ill-will, but merely curiosity. “Over time I got more comfortable, and I realized I had an opportunity to influence other people’s lives,” she added. Since then Scout, who finished high school in 2007 and is now attending UCLA, has been competing in triathlons. All in all, she competed in 10 triathlons in 2007 and five so far in 2008. In 2008 at nationals she placed second and won another silver at worlds. “It was crazy (all the success),” says Scout. “The success was completely unexpected. I became so passionate about it and had a thrill I never got in any other sport. The hardest thing I did was prepare for a triathlon.” Stan and his staff at POA designed Scout a special leg for long-distance running and another one for biking. She does not use a leg at all when she is swimming. “CAF gave me the resources and fostered the environment, but it’s been that constant, encouraging me to do things I didn’t think were possible,” she says. “Stan has been like a dad to me in many ways.” While she is still undeclared as to her major at UCLA, Scout knows one thing about her future: She wants to help other people improve the quality of their lives, the way so many people helped her lead the life she loves so much now. “I just have a passion for living my life. I want to help and empower as many people as I possibly can,” says Scout. “It’s been an exciting and amazing year. I am the most blessed person. I’ve had the support of so many amazing people and reached heights I never thought I could reach. I can’t believe this is my life.”