Jul 8, 2009 7:34 pm US/Central
Summer Camp Lets Sick Kids Cut Loose
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
-
-
Camp John Marc, sick kids summer camp, Bosque County, Cook Childrens patients, Van Davis, Dr Joann Sanders, sick children/KTVT / KTXA
South of Fort Worth, on the edge of the Hill Country, more than a hundred children are enjoying summer camp. It is summer and children are out of school so going to camp might not seem extraordinary, but this group is enjoying the event more than most kids because much of their lives have been spent in hospitals.
This week at Camp John Marc in Bosque County you can't judge anyone by looks. Van Davis is an 8-year-old who's had five attempted bone marrow transplants.
Van is very small for his age because he has anemia that prevents normal growth and he's not alone. "These are kids with chronic illness," explained Dr. Joann Sanders. "They have decreased self esteem. They have body changes they're trying to deal with. They have mortality issues that they're dealing with."
This week, the endless cycles of sometimes painful medical treatments will take a pause. Camp John Marc is for Cook Children's Hospital patients and there no one cares if anyone's different.
"My closest friends they already know about it and it doesn't matter to them. They're like, oh. Okay," explained camp attendee Asha Anderson.
At the camp, kids learn to cook, craft and are encouraged to challenge themselves. Just a few days earlier, most of the young people attending the camp had never been fishing. This week they're telling fish stories. "It was big… this big!" Van described his catch using his hands.
Brothers and sisters of the patients are invited to stay at the camp, too. Camp organizers say often siblings can feel excluded since so much attention is paid to the ill child. But at the camp it gives them a chance to connect with their family again.
"It means a lot. It's nice to know that he's able to do things now and he's not just having to stay at the hospital," said Van's brother De'Marcus Wilson. "I know for him it was boring, just being up there at the hospital all the time. So now, he's out here having fun."
For everyone involved the reward is tangible. "These are kids we don't see smile a lot in the hospital. So it's great for us, but for them it's something they take home with them and they keep that going through the year," Dr. Sanders said with satisfaction.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
