“I’m a miracle,” Dakota Burnham said. And, in at least one sense of the word, she truly is.
After her dad survived an aggressive form of prostate cancer, he was told that he wouldn’t be able to have kids—but then, against all odds, her mom got pregnant.
However, that wasn’t the only challenge Burnham faced before she was born.
“When I was born, my umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck two times, and whenever my mom had a contraction, my heart rate was slowed down because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and was choking me,” Burnham said. “She had to have a C-section a week early because of that.”
Now, Burnham’s origin story doesn’t physically impact her life that much—at least, not as much as one might expect. Instead, it’s influenced her outlook on life.
“I’ve gone through a lot of things in life, and I’ve learned that even though something might seem scary, you should do it because you don’t know if you’ll have another chance,” Burnham said.
One of the ways Burnham uses this philosophy in her life is through her participation in her youth organization, Job’s Daughters International, a young women’s organization focused on leadership, charity, and character building. She’s been a part of the organization for several years and has now taken on a leadership role in her chapter of the organization.
“I used to be really shy, but since I joined my youth organization, I’ve become more self-confident and able to do things like public speaking,” Burnham said. “It’s helped me to take chances because you never really know what could happen to you—life is short. It’s important to live life to the fullest and have fun while you can.”