Camp KOALA brings healing and hope to children with burn injuries
Courtesy of AHN
Participants in the summer camp for young burn victims pose for a photo.
Courtesy of AHN
Cash Redford enjoys a challenge during Camp KOALA.
For the 缅北禁地
Cash Redford knew he shouldn鈥檛 be doing it. With Mom and Dad out of the house, the then-12-year-old was home with his older teenage sisters and their friend in North Strabane Township and horsing around the family鈥檚 fire pit. His sister told him to stop, but he squirted a bottle of rubbing alcohol onto the fire. The next time he did it, the flame traveled up the line of liquid to the bottle.
鈥淗is sister told him he shouldn鈥檛 be playing around with it,鈥� says Cash鈥檚 dad, Kevin Redford. 鈥淗e鈥檒l tell you to your face it was a mistake. He squirted it into the fire and the flame went up the alcohol and into the bottle and the bottle exploded.鈥� His sister鈥檚 friend yelled for Cash to stop, drop and roll, and neighbors rushed to the house to help, but Cash still suffered burns to his right side. 鈥淗e was burned from his ear down to his knee basically on the right side,鈥� Kevin says. 鈥淣ow, you only ever know it by looking at a scar on his right arm.鈥�
That was three years ago this week, and Cash still remembers his painful physical recovery.
鈥淭he worst part about recovering was whenever I was having to take off the bandage at the end of the day, it had to pull off some skin,鈥� says Cash. 鈥淭o heal, you have to continually take away that bad skin. Every time that happened, it was just awful. It felt the exact same as when I actually had the burn.鈥�
Though painful, his recovery went well and the 15-year-old is looking forward to being a freshman at Canon-McMillan High School in the fall.
Burn injuries are the fifth most common cause of non-fatal childhood injury worldwide. The American Burn Association estimates that 450,000 children and adults with burn injuries require medical attention in the United States each year. Painful burn injuries can leave children with not only physical but also emotional scars.
Clinical nurse Linda Leonard works in West Penn Hospital鈥檚 Burn Center and sees firsthand that burn injuries can leave children with emotional scars as well as their physical injuries.
鈥淲e were seeing some of the kids when they come back for their visits to the clinic that they weren鈥檛 being kids, you know, they weren鈥檛 going to the swimming pool,鈥� Leonard says. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 playing sports in the summer. I mean, they just weren鈥檛 being kids. 鈥�
To help foster their healing, Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and West Penn鈥檚 Burn Center started a summer camp in the 1980s with a mission of healing, fellowship and hope for children and teenagers from across the tri-state area who have suffered burn injuries. The camp is still going strong and just hosted 15 children and teens this month at Camp Kon-O-Kwee in Zelienople.
Leonard is the camp鈥檚 director and says she loves seeing the patients she cares for in the hospital enjoying the camp and just being kids. 鈥淢ost of the parents tell us they see a difference in their kids,鈥� says Leonard. 鈥淭he kids are with other kids who have had a very similar experience. The mechanism of injury might be different, but they all were treated at West Penn for some type of burn injury.鈥�
Five days of activities are designed to inspire them to connect by sharing their ongoing journey of recovery. 鈥淚f they wanted to talk about their injury, they could and it would be safe, nobody would laugh at them,鈥� Leonard says. 鈥淣obody would make fun of them. Nobody would point and stare.鈥�
Most of the camp time is about just having fun and being together. Some years include a day a Kennywood or a Pirates game. This year, the camp adopted the name Camp KOALA (Kids Overcoming, Adapting, Learning and Achieving). The overnight camp is free of charge to any child who has been treated at West Penn Burn Center, thanks to the generosity of firefighter groups, businesses, organizations, and individuals. Urban Air in Cranberry hosted the campers for a private outing this year and kids also enjoyed a presentation from the Pittsburgh Scuba Center along with relay races with city of Pittsburgh firefighters.
Leonard has been a part of the camp since the beginning and loves it. 鈥淲hen the kids are in the hospital and even when I see them in the clinic, they鈥檙e still not exactly sick, but they鈥檙e injured and the burns are painful,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just not themselves. The painful procedures that these patients have to go through is sometimes overwhelming. When I see them at camp being kids, it really makes the painful part of it worthwhile, so to speak.鈥�
This year marked Cash Redford鈥檚 second time at camp, and he plans to go again. His favorite part this year was swimming, archery and just making some new friends. Three years after the accident, he has healed both physically and emotionally.
鈥淒on鈥檛 let it ruin your life,鈥� he says, when I asked him what advice he would give other kids going through the same experience.