Bonding Time
FOMBELL, Beaver County — A group of 20 kids is spending five days swimming, paddling canoes and challenging themselves on the obstacle course at the YMCA's Camp Kon-O-Kwee Spencer.
They do the same things most kids do at the camp along Connoquenessing Creek just south of the Butler County line, but a common thread pulls them together.
“These are all kids who sustained a burn injury,” Linda Leonard, a registered nurse at the West Penn Burn Center and director of West Penn Hospital's Summer Camp for Burn Injured Children, said Monday. “It gives kids a chance to interact with kids like themselves. A pediatric burn patient can feel isolated.”
Donations make the camp free for children ages 7 to 17 who were treated for burn injuries at the Allegheny Health Network hospital.
The camp started Saturday and ends Wednesday. In addition to activities at camp, the children were taken on field trips to Kennywood Park and the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. A group of scuba divers is coming to teach them about underwater diving. The theme of this year's camp is “Under the Sea.”
“From the moment they get together at registration, they're friends. It's a special bond they have with each other,” Leonard said.
Shann Israel, 10, of Harmony made new friends during his first visit to the camp.
“I liked Kennywood and the pool party,” Shann said after paddling a canoe in a pond with a bunch of other campers.
The burn he suffered on his right hand when he was little doesn't slow him down.
“It doesn't hurt at all,” Shann said. “My parents told me what happened. When I was little I was walking around and I put my hand on a tractor motor and burned my hand.”
He said someone opened the door to the engine compartment of a riding mower after cutting the yard and he reached in and put his hand on the hot motor.
“It doesn't bother me at all,” said Shann, who plays soccer at Seneca Valley Elementary School where he will be in fifth grade in the fall.
He said the other kids at camp don't let their injuries get them down regardless of where they were hurt.
“Everybody's comfortable with it. It's usually on their arms, hands, back and stomach,” Shann said.
Burn camp, as the hospital calls it, started in 1986 to create a fun, carefree week for children. The camp was held at other locations before moving to Camp Kon-O-Kwee 20 years ago.
Children who suffered serious burn injuries undergo long and sometimes painful recoveries and physical therapy.
“The journey for a burn patient isn't over when you leave the hospital,” Leonard said.
The camp originally lasted a weekend, but was expanded to five days.
“We've been really blessed to keep it free for the kids. They can come every year from 7 through 17, Leonard said. It doesn't matter when the injury occurred, she said.
“We believe camp should be open to all kids. We've had the patients here for 20 years. They have a special place in our hearts,” said Karla Schell, associate executive director of Camp Kon-O-Kwee. “It's about creating a positive environment. We try to create that positive environment so kids can be kids.”
