Moniteau teen continues to defy odds thanks to support from Butler Lions Club
Fear less. Do more.
It’s the longtime motto for Envision Blind Sports Summer Camp and one 16-year-old Kadyn Czepiel takes to heart.
As a young child, Czepiel was diagnosed with a brain tumor that crushed one of his optic nerves, leaving him completely blind in his right eye.
However, his disability hasn’t prevented him from pursuing the kind of games and activities that any other teenager would regularly engage in.
“I don’t ever let it interfere with me,” he said.
More than 80 children flock to the summer camp, which takes place annually in July at Penn State Behrend in Erie. It allows athletes ages 7-18 who are blind or visually impaired to experience a wide range of recreational pursuits, including water activities at Pymatuning State Park, rock wall climbing and other team games, such as beep baseball, blind soccer, basketball and ice hockey.
The camp also gives out ingrained trophies and medals complete with braille to all attendees to commemorate their experiences.
Czepiel, a junior at Moniteau High School, has attended for four straight years through the assistance of the Butler Lions Club.
“Every year I’ve done it, it’s made me so happy,” Czepiel said. “I’ve gotten to do something for a week that I could be active and have fun. I’ve met so many good people, and I’ve made memorable friendships and relationships with the people around me.”
Just a few days after returning home, he shared his latest camp experience, while thanking more than a dozen club members during a meeting on Tuesday evening, July 15, at Alameda Park in Butler Township.
One of his favorite parts of the camp, he said, is spending time on the water.
“I love to kayak,” Czepiel said. “I like our water day a lot. We did a lot of paddle boarding, kayaking and canoeing this year.”
Czepiel’s mother, Veronica, said it brings tears to her eyes thinking about the opportunities available to her son each summer he wouldn’t normally have access to at home.
“I don’t have too many words for it because to me, watching him be around kids like himself and being his true self — it melts my heart,” she said. “He gets to be him. He doesn’t have to worry about the bullying or kids saying ‘You can’t do this’ or ‘you can’t do that.’ There’s no limits for him there.”
One of the core missions Lions Club International was founded on was serving the blind and visually impaired. Helping a lively teenager like Czepiel experience unique physical activities each summer ties in perfectly to the local chapter’s efforts, said vice president Connie Ivill.
“Just reaching back to somebody that could use our services, our money, our product and our help is enriching our lives,” she said. “It’s enriching my own life just to be able to help somebody. It’s a wonderful feeling. I love younger children, so to me, just helping the young really makes a difference.”
Although Czepiel is not currently undergoing cancer treatment, he continues to have annual checkups to monitor the tumor and ensure it doesn’t grow or become more serious.
Through all the highs and lows during his young life, he said the kindness shown by the local Lions Club has left an indelible mark he hopes to one day pay back by becoming a member himself.
“I’ve always wanted to inspire people and I always try to find idols that inspire me,” Czepiel said. “I can really see how they (the Lions Club members) inspire others.”
