This past summer, during a sultry week in June, I traveled to a place that I never imagined possible. I left my hectic life and joined an army of people, young and old, to go to camp. This was no ordinary camp, mind you. There are no ordinary people at Fresh Air Camp. Only kings and queens, superheroes, rock stars and Olympic athletes need apply. For a week, dreams come true.

It seems that a group of people came up with a novel idea. What if we could send some real special kids to camp? These are not the kind of kids you would normally see at camp. After all, how could a kid in a wheelchair “hike” in the woods? How could a girl who needs a ventilator to breathe go swimming? What about a boy who can’t even hold up his own head? Do you think he’d be able to go horseback riding? And if you can’t even move your hands, how do you think you’re going to roast marshmallows or do pranks?

Not an easy proposition for the most innovative of minds. You wouldn’t have to be merely creative to figure this one out. You need genius here, and a big dose of heart. I never would have believed it myself, but I got to see it first hand. This was magic in the making, each and every day. Let me tell you about some of the things that happened there.

I saw a 15 year old kid who is paralyzed and vent-dependent create a volcano using only his scientific knowledge and a few household chemicals. I saw this same kid trouble shoot the repair of his own wheelchair, directing the “technical expert” on what to do next. His next feat was to direct the staff to create a mechanical device which would allow one of the other campers to blow bubbles independently for her role in the talent show. (It worked!) I saw this kid out on the dance floor the final night of camp, dancing in rhythm to the music in his wheelchair controlled by a device in his mouth. Next year, this kid will be a camp counselor because frankly, he’s smarter than the rest of us and infinitely more talented.

I saw a kid of 11, who has a trach and carries his own oxygen tank around with him play deejay for the talent show. He got up in front of 100 or more people to sing dance and moonwalk. In fact he was always dancing stirring up a commotion.

I saw a 16 year old girl who is vent-dependent and completely paralyzed sing the Littlest Mermaid song in the most heavenly voice you’ve ever heard. She can’t use her hands but played Uno for hours with the best of them. She made so many friends and charmed everyone with her humor, grace and intelligence. Her tears that last day of camp was a testimony to the friendships made.

I got to ride behind my 9 year old buddy Jessica on a horse. Now Jessica is vent-dependent and has very weak arms and legs, but that didn’t seem to be much of an obstacle to her. To be honest, I was awfully glad to have her to hold on to, being the inexperienced rider that I am. This kid made more crafts in a week than most kids make in a year. Her mom told me before camp started that Jessica had never been away from her family before, and that she probably wouldn’t last the week. We got to camp on Sunday, and by Wednesday, I was begging Jessica to call her Mom. So much for the homesick camper! We had a nightly (and somewhat ruthless) Uno tournament in the girl’s cabin and Jessica was the queen, winning hand after hand with much gloating and little shame! My daughter Claire found it necessary to serenade the girls’ cabin each night with her medley of poorly sung rock tunes, to the dismay and hearty boos of all present. Her favorite prop was the vent tubing which seemed to work well as a microphone.

I saw kids who have never had enough freedom to get in trouble, well, get in trouble! I spent my week soaked to the bone from the incessant squirt gun battle where no one was spared. I went to sleep each night exhausted and exhilarated, proud that I was able to keep up with these kids for one more day. Even still, I think about camp every day and realize I will never be the same. My daughter, Claire and I will be back next year and the year after that. Another daughter, Erin, will join us next year as well. It’s not an experience you’d want to miss. It felt like basking in a sea of pure love.

I saw a thousand other miraculous things during my week at camp, too numerous to describe here. I say miraculous because I happen to know how difficult it is merely to get through the day with a child who is technology-dependent. My daughter Ali was vent-dependent and wheelchair bound for the last 4 years of her life as a result of a brain tumor. Imagine a teenage girl who can never experience even a moment of solitude or independence because she requires around the clock medical attention. She has no privacy and cannot even have a confidential chat with a friend without a caregiver nearby. How she wished she could just be normal again. When struck with a medical condition requiring constant care, children become cut off from the world, from their friends, from their community, from their school family. This isolation is unbearable.

I would have given the world if Ali could have experienced the outdoor wonder of Fresh Air Camp. Just to have one week of independence from her Mom, one week to be a kid, to forget her troubles, be a crazy teenager and make new friends. I also know that, during that week in June, she was there with me and she was smiling.

Thank you for your support,

Carolyn Ferry, R.N.