Camp gives kids courage

Rachael Jones, 18, knows how it feels to be different from other kids.

Jones has sickle cell anemia, a disease that sometimes separated her from other children growing up.

Sickle cell anemia is a blood disease marked by “c” shaped blood cells. Normal blood cells are shaped like disks. Children with sickle cell do not get enough oxygen flowing through their blood, which can cause pain, a low blood count or anemia.

Jones said it can be hard to talk about the illness with peers who have not experienced the side effects of the disease.

“It would kind of be harder to talk to somebody who didn’t have sickle cell,” she said.

Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics sponsor Camp Courage to help connect patients, such as Jones, who suffer from sickle cell.

Jones attended the camp from age 6 to 13. Now she serves as a camp counselor.

“I liked the fishing and actually being here with other sickle cell patients,” Jones said. “This was the only camp that I’d been to.”

Most sickle cell patients are not able to attend summer camp because of medical conditions.

Camp Courage provides a safe environment in which children can stay. Nurses and a physician attend the camp every year and are on hand if a medical emergency arises.

This year, Children’s Mercy had the camp at the Tall Oaks Camp and Conference Center in Linwood, Kan.

Susie Sarcone, RN, CPNP, works in Children’s Mercy’s hematology and oncology unit and has worked at the camp for more than 10 years.

“(Campers) get to meet other kids that are going through the same things they are going through,” she said.

Children with sickle cell who are treated at Children’s Mercy and are age 6 to 14 can attend the four-day camp.

“There is no other camp that these kids can go to for sickle cell,” Julie Routhieaux, RN, CPNP, said. “It’s really special to them.”

Routhieaux also works in Children’s Mercy’s hematology and oncology unit. She has worked at Camp Courage for about eight years.

This year 53 children attended Camp Courage.

“Each year it grows a little bit,” Routhieaux said.

The camp not only connects sickle cell patients with one another, it also provides an escape from the city.

“The boys are fascinated with the bugs and frogs,” Routhieaux said.

Campers participate in a variety of activities, including, tie-dyeing, horseback riding, swimming, carnival games and fishing.

And the camp includes more than just fun and games.

“We do try to put an educational piece in there but make it fun,” Sarcone said.

Camp Courage serves as the highlight of the summer for some campers. Jones said even as a counselor she enjoys her time at Camp Courage.

“It’s actually quite peaceful around here,” she said.

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