Paralympian Scout Bassett Competes in Rio After Losing Her Leg in Chemical Fire: 'I Find Such Healing Power in Running'

Paralympic first-timer Scout Bassett finds peace in pushing herself on the track.

The 4-foot-9 sprinter and long jumper uses running as an outlet to escape her past. The athlete has overcome a lot in her life to get to the Rio Games – "the pinnacle" of her career thus far.

Bassett, 28, lost her right leg in a Nanjing, China, chemical fire when she was an infant.

"Shortly after that, I was abandoned and left on the street," explains Bassett. "I was taken to an orphanage where I faced child labor, starvation, physical abuse and physical discipline for years."

With no prosthesis, Bassett ended up dragging herself and scooting around in the orphanage for 6 years until she was able to fashion a makeshift leg-support from a leather belt and tape. At the age of 7, Bassett was adopted by Joe and Susi Bassett, a loving family from Harbor Springs, Michigan.

"I struggled to fit in and be social with other kids, I was painfully shy and a reclusive young woman with very little confidence and low self esteem," she says. "But then I found track."

Bassett began running when she was 14 – and she immediately fell in love with "the power in being able to move fast."

"When I'm on the track I feel whole," says Bassett. "I went from somebody who is timid to someone with strength and courage. And drive. When I run I don't feel like I'm an amputee, I don't feel disabled."

"I forget I'm missing a leg when I run."

Bassett says her parents didn't push her into sports, but when she showed interest in track and field, they encouraged her to pursue her passion.

"For a while they said, 'Oh, that's great she has a hobby!' But it was never something that could possibly be a real career," she explains. "But over time as I've gotten better and made it, it's obvious that it's not just a hobby anymore."

"It's who I am."

While attending UCLA – where she competed in triathlons as part of the Challenged Athletes Foundation – Bassett began training for the 2012 London Paralympic trials.

But then, she failed to make the team.

"I was devastated," she says. "However, not making the team only motivated me to work my butt off for the next four years. I'm used to overcoming hardships and disappointments, so it wasn't new to me."

In 2015, Bassett quit her job as a marketer at a medical device company in San Diego to focus on the 2016 Paralympic trails, training with Olympic 110-meter hurdles bronze medalist Tonie Campbell.

Related: Paralympic Gold Medal-Winning Swimmer Mallory Weggemann

"I was living out of my car for a year," says Bassett. "When you take huge risks and leaps in your life and you're willing to step out of your box and be uncomfortable, you will be eligible to reap huge rewards. I'm so humbled everything worked out."

Bassett will compete in the long jump and the 100-meter dash at the Rio Paralympics.

"From the streets of China to being an orphan to competing at the Paralympic Games, the biggest pinnacle for sport, well you can't write a better script than that!" she says. "Rio here I come!"

But for Bassett, running isn't about winning. Still, the sport provides her peace and a sense of belonging.

"I find such healing power in running. It changed me from the inside out," says Bassett. "It reminds me that there are no limits to what I can achieve or do."