Camp Helps Burn Victims’ Emotional Scars to Heal

All the usual trappings of summer camp are here, from bunk beds in rustic cabins to a cluttered crafts hut to a hay bale archery range to canoes huddled against the lake front.

But Camp McCumber is no ordinary summer camp. In addition to offering city kids a romp in the woods, the weeklong excursion includes self-esteem sessions, physical therapy and advice on applying makeup.

Camp McCumber is a summer break for children scarred by fire. It helps them learn to feel comfortable with themselves and with others, despite the cruelty that strangers sometimes heap on them because of their appearance.

Siblings Accepted Too

The camp also accepts the siblings of burn survivors, to help ease tensions within the family caused by accidents.

“So often when a kid is burned, so much energy and attention goes to that one child, and the other kids feel left out,” said Caryl Modrinski of the Orange County Burn Assn. “This helps teach them they’re part of the recovery process, too.”

McCumber is one of several “burn camps” set up over the last few years by burn survivor associations in Denver, Seattle and other cities. Among the best known is a Fresno camp run by the Alisa Ann Ruch California Burn Foundation of Canoga Park.

Sharing similar philosophies and activities schedules, these camps exist to care for the growing number of young burn survivors that contemporary medical techniques save from death, but not from disfigurement.

“When I went in public before, I felt uncomfortable because everyone would stare at me,” said Jenny Smith, an engaging and articulate Fairfield 13-year-old whose hands and face were burned in a house fire last May. “But here, it doesn’t matter because everyone else is like me.”

Unexpectedly, Camp McCumber also has had a similar uplifting effect on its young counselors, many of whom also are burn survivors.

“I was always self-conscious; I would never shower with other girls in high school,” said Sandy Pantle, 27, a counselor from Oroville whose healthy good looks inspired several of the young campers worried about their appearance. “But being here and seeing how comfortable the kids are with each other, I feel at ease myself.”

Trauma Doesn’t End

“Once they’re out of the burn center, the trauma is not over,” said Lisa Hutchinson, 26, one of the founders of Camp McCumber. “The psychological pain goes on, and we’re trying to make sure it doesn’t go on forever. We want to teach people they’re all right, both inside and out.”

Camp McCumber, the nation’s newest burn camp, is sponsored by the Northern California Burn Foundation, an affiliate of the Chico Community Hospital Burn Unit in Chico, a quaint university town about 75 miles to the south. The camp’s first session ended over the weekend, but it already has exceeded the expectations of Hutchinson and her parents, Phyllis and A.E. Hutchinson of Redding.

They expected 12 campers at the camp outside this resort town 30 miles east of Redding; they wound up with 33 kids from as far away as Orange County, San Diego and Arizona. They turned away some volunteer counselors after accepting the maximum complement of 22.

Money was not as easy to come by, but they raised enough--including $3,500 from Simpson Paper Co. and $1,000 from Lisa Hutchinson herself--to offer “camperships” and subsidized air fares to all those attending.

“We have more than enough for this year, and we are already getting offers for next year,” said Hutchinson, adding that plans already are being made to expand the number of campers next year and the activities available to them.

More openings are needed, said Tom Keifer of the Ruch Foundation, because the two California camps together have only a little more than 100 openings for the 4,000 children in California alone who are burned badly enough each year to require major medical care.

Many Supporters

“When you say ‘kids,’ and then you say ‘burn kids’--well, first one eye cries, then the other,” said A.E. Hutchinson, a retired insurance salesman, describing how he and his daughter built an extensive network of supporters among former clients and others who have listened to Lisa talk of the need to help burn survivors.

Indeed, donations of cash and supplies for this year have been matched by offers to establish skiing and equestrian programs next summer. The operator of one local tourist attraction, Shasta Lake Caverns, invited the whole camp in for free, then treated campers to a barbecue, fishing and swimming.

The foundation was launched after Hutchinson was burned in a 1985 auto accident involving a drunk driver. Her doctors at the Chico burn unit were so impressed with the progress she made, with the constant support of her parents, that they asked the family to join with other burn survivors to organize the support group.

After working as a counselor at the first burn camp offered by the Southern California group two years ago, Lisa said she was determined to offer a second camp in the northern part of the state.

“I was so impressed with the way the kids were allowed to just get out and experience life,” she said. “It was good for them to get out of that sterile burn center atmosphere they’re used to and get a little dirt on themselves.”

Counselors said some children were somewhat hesitant when they arrived but quickly grew comfortable with each other and their common problem.

Sharing Feelings

“It’s good to be able to share your feelings with other burn kids,” said Vinnie Tanis, 10, a camper from Huntington Beach. “You can tell them how you got burned and they won’t make fun of you.”

“I was burned at the age of 7,” said John Hozempa, 26, a counselor from Anaheim, “so I know the names kids call you and the alienation you can feel. It’s important for them to get a super-positive mental outlook, and that is what they get here.”

They also get a week to cut loose and just act like kids.

“They horse around and trash each other’s cabins and play games just like everyone else,” said camp counselor Tom Handlan, 27, a burn victim with a clinical psychology degree from Cal State Fullerton. “Sometimes they go too far, but that’s normal, too. I’d be worried if they didn’t.”

Added Hozempa: “It’s tremendous the way they can smile after all they’ve been through.”