Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508280023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WIRTZ LENGTH: Medium
Children who have heart problems want to be treated just like regular kids.
Despite the fact that many had multiple open-heart surgeries before they were able to walk, a group of 35 energetic campers from around the country recently shot arrows, raced in canoes and learned to swim at Camp Lotsaheart at the Smith Mountain Lake 4-H Center.
"When people find out you've had open-heart surgery, they're always making sure everything's OK with you," said Erica Hayden, 13, who had three open-heart surgeries before fifth grade. She came from Greensburg, Pa., to be around other children like herself, an escape from feeling like an outsider.
"You're treated equally here," she said. "No one treats you like you're different."
Camp Lotsaheart, in its first year, is sponsored by the Franklin County Chapter of Mended Hearts, which serves as a support group for heart patients and their families. The camp costs $125 per child. Most campers were able to come through the generosity of the pediatric hospital staffs or the Mended Hearts chapters in their hometowns. Some people held bake sales and took donations to give the campers a chance to let it all hang out for a week at Smith Mountain Lake.
All campers are required to swim, canoe, fish, ride horses, play miniature golf and, most importantly, have one heck of a good time, because that's what summer camp is all about.
"We just want these kids to know that they aren't the only children with these kinds of heart problems," said Arnie Trop, the camp's director and originator. "And they need to know that they can lead very normal lives despite their conditions."
Trop, who had triple bypass surgery in 1991, said he came up with the camp idea after hearing about similar camps across the country sponsored by local Mended Hearts chapters.
As the former president and founder of the Franklin County chapter of Mended Hearts, Trop said too many times children feel alienated from others because of their conditions.
In the pool, the Lotsaheart campers don't have to feel self-conscious about the scars across their chests, down their sides or across their backs - because everyone else has them, too.
It's not a big deal to hear them talking in detail about their surgeries and explaining them to whoever may be curious.
Even 7-year-old Ashley Wilson from Trappe, Md., didn't flinch when her grandmother, Marilyn, who's also a camp volunteer, pulled up Ashley's shirt to show one of her scars. Ashley has had surgery in the same spot three times.
With a big grin, Ashley talked about the fun she's having at camp.
"In ceramics class, I made big pigs and little piglets and Pocahontas and a canoe," she said. Plus, she's learning to dog paddle and to fish.
Franklin County Mended Hearts members and 4-H camp counselors are volunteers at the camp. They teach some of the classes, and they're always around to let the children know they're not alone.
Campers have come from Roanoke, Virginia Beach, Lynchburg, Bedford, West Virginia and Georgia.
"When they first got here, a lot of them were kind of shy," said Brady Daniels, 16, of Bedford.
As a 4-H counselor and archery instructor for the camp, he admits there were some things he had to get used to this week.
"Some of the kids can't run around as much," he said, "and during dinner, some of them would take like a million pills.
"After the first day or so, you get used to seeing their scars, and they start playing like regular campers."
As with most summer camps, children were elated to be able to run and frolic for a whole week without Mom or Dad around. Ryan Kibble, 9, of Belmont, W.Va., summed it up:
"You can get away from home, and you don't have nobody telling you what to do every minute."
by CNB