Looking for a place where anything is possible? For children with chronic or terminal illnesses, Victory Junction is a veritable Disney World.
In a single day, I helped a child with kidney disease swim for the first time, a wheelchair-bound boy take his first boat ride and a boy with a life-threatening heart condition catch his first fish. Every day at the camp brings me a unique opportunity to help these children experience moments able-bodied youths have all taken for granted. These children have two things in common: they are unable to attend normal summer camps because they have serious medical conditions, and they still have the same dreams and desires as other children their age. At Victory Junction, these children can forget their infirmities.
During my first week as the boating instructor, Thomas arrived at the "Catch, Kiss and Release Marina," diffident, wheelchair-bound and apprehensive. Never having been on a boat, he deliberated over making the plunge, but curiosity got the best of him and he firmly announced his decision-he was getting on that boat.
"Three, two, one," Thomas said. And off we were, with Thomas guiding the way. After leaving shore for the first, Thomas chose to explore his newfound hobby every spare moment, snagging his first fish and encouraging his fellow campers to experience his triumphs. "Let's take the boats out, guys! I'll show you how." Thomas' willingness to challenge himself and confront his fears served as quite a lesson to all of us down at the lake. Other campers who had been apprehensive followed his lead and took to the water. For the new counselors, he showed us just how much would be possible this summer and he helped us set high goals for ourselves and our campers. After watching Thomas, I certainly will not settle for letting a camper stay scared of the water. During week three, another camper refused to enter the boats. Remembering Thomas, I eased him onto the lake first in a sturdy paddle boat and then into a canoe. At lunch, he raced to the front of the dining hall to add his name to the "Book of Firsts," in which all first experiences at camp are recorded daily.
When I became interested in working at Victory Junction, I expected my job to be simply showing kids how to successfully board and paddle their boats. What I failed to realize was that the more time I spent with these children, paddling around the lake or just eating together in the dining hall, the more I learned about how incredibly tough they all are. These children make me want to work harder for them. I gladly stay up after the campers have gone to bed, designing awards for them, planning activities for the next day and ensuring that every camper will feel special. I have as much fun as the campers--and as I watch them achieve small victories, I feel personally rewarded.
I forged an immediate friendship with another camper in my unit, Aaron, who has hemophilia. He asked me to accompany him to the camp clinic, and I watched dumbstruck as this 13-year-old injected his daily intravenous medication without so much as a blink of an eye. I realized how easy it had been for me to forget his condition as his behavior had been just like any other budding teenager-swaggering around the girls, bragging about his basketball skills and talking trash about Creighton sports teams. Aaron and the other boys of the Blue Unit that week struck a chord with me because they acted just like my perfectly healthy younger brother and his buddies while simultaneously respecting each other's conditions. They displayed an incredible amount of sensitivity that I would not expect to see in 12-and 13-year-old boys. Sure, they made fun of each other when someone snored loudly at night, but when Aaron's arm began to bother him, all jokes were put aside as he went with a counselor to the Body Shop.
Victory Junction Gang Camp was inspired by actor Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut, another place where chronically ill children have the opportunity to go to camp. Yet Victory Junction has an additional distinction-it serves as NASCAR's official charity. The late NASCAR driver Adam Petty, had a dream to build a camp where chronically ill children could go free of charge and simply be kids. When he passed away in a tragic accident in 2001, his parents, Kyle and Patty Petty, decided to fulfill his vision. The camp that emerged as a tribute to Adam exceeded all possible expectations.
Victory Junction is a cross between an amusement park, a NASCAR race track and a Fantasyland. The buildings are all brightly colored and whimsical. The horse barn looks like a giant circus tent, and a barnyard menagerie adds to the feeling of controlled chaos. Down at the lake there are motor boats painted to look like racecars (each camper gets to ride in his favorite driver's boat) and a rainbow-painted pontoon party boat. The dining hall, or Fuel Stop, even has two retired racecars hanging in the rafters. With the flick of a switch, they blow smoke and spin their tires. The children are engaged by their surroundings and at times even overwhelmed by the splashes of color and sound and light. The water park is fully equipped with a motorcycle water side that blasts "vroom" sounds while the lazy river occupants get sprayed with gallons of water.
The camp planners have managed to attend to even the campers' most challenging needs. For example, the kids afflicted with sickle cell anemia are extremely sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Because this would limit their ability to go swimming, the camp has built a warming hut next to the pool with capabilities of reaching 104 degrees while the pool remains at a balmy 92 degrees.
Every day of camp has been a joy, a gift and a challenge. Within moments of the campers' arrival the first week, I overcame my nerves and realized just what an amazing place Victory Junction really is. The campers' faces were bright and excited and their anticipation of the week ahead spurred my own excitement. They were enthusiastic, they cheered their hearts out for their units (Go Blue!), they conquered their fears, and on the day they left, I cried my heart out alongside them. Adam Petty's vision had been achieved, and seeing the faces of the campers, I understood how important it is to provide these children with a place to be themselves. My experiences with these children reflect the camp's motto: if we can dream it, we can achieve it!
So many campers added their names to the Book of Firsts for feats performed at the lake that I can't even count them anymore. Every week, I take children for their first boat rides and help them catch their first fish--and I thought I was just signing on to paddle some kids around a lake. Little did I know that I would see children pushing themselves to try new things every day and achieving small victories.
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