SHORELINE, Wash. — Sarah King-Scott is not your typical teenager. In fact, she likes to joke with her mom about how special she is.
"Well, I'm one in a million," laughs Sarah.
One in a million.
Those were the chances doctors gave Sarah of having a stroke when she was a little girl because of a heart condition.
And that's exactly what happened.
"A mini-stroke in an 8-year-old, there's not much that medicine can do to reverse the effects of a blood clot in your brain," says Sarah. "I'm very lucky."
It all started when Sarah was just 6 and was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, a condition where her heart would start beating up to 200 times per minute.
Sarah had to wait two years for a surgery at Seattle Children's Hospital with her childhood slipping away.
"I would have to take a cold shower to slow my heart down, or my dad with literally have to hold me upside down by my ankles," she says. "It's hard to relate to other kids who were going to soccer after school instead of the hospital."
Sarah couldn't attend a conventional school in her hometown of Shoreline and eventually enrolled in an online school called the Insight School of Washington, that gave her more flexibility.
She used that flexibility to earn a 3.97 grade point average and win the crown of Miss King County Teen recently.
"I was jumping for joy and so was my mom," Sarah smiles. "I can be Miss King County Teen and make a difference in my community!"
That difference includes an interest in studying disease one day at the University of Washington, helping other kids overcome their health problems.
Meantime, with her heart now healthy, this one-in-a-million kid shares advice for those still struggling.
"Keep looking up. It gets better. No matter how hard it seems right now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
Sarah will compete for the title of Miss Washington Teen in November.