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Christine Wandzura's son Derek was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1986 when he was just five. After almost four years of aggressive radiation and chemotherapy treatment, Derek travelled from Calgary to British Columbia to attend a summer camp for children with cancer, since there was no such program in Alberta. Although he had difficulty walking and was losing his sight, he returned with excited stories about the experience. Wandzura immediately approached the Canadian Cancer Society for help in launching a camp in Alberta. She was planning that program when Derek died the following spring at age nine. Wandzura's dream lived on with Derek's memory. She sent several dozen kids with cancer to a camp in the Rockies in 1991, and two years later expanded it to include siblings "because we wanted it to be a normal camp experience." By 1999, her organization, the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta, had broadened its mandate to include clinical support and funding research into childhood cancer. At the heart, however, are still the camps, which now include day programs for kids under seven, as well as week-long adventures in the mountains for campers up to 17 years old. In many ways, they're just like any other camp, with rafting, canoeing, rope courses, arts and crafts and goofy pranks, all with a staff that's trained to address the needs of kids with cancer. "For many years, their mind has been set on survival, and now it's set on getting down the river, or getting up the climbing wall," Wandzura says. "It's about challenges and successes, and supporting each other, and teamwork, and learning new skills, and sleeping under the stars for the first time - and just being a kid again." The scary stories around the bonfire at these camps are on a whole different level. "There's a magic created when you bring kids together who have experienced the same thing," Wandzura says. "Sometimes it's a kid talking about their brother or sister with cancer, or sharing a funny thing they experienced with their prosthesis after having lost a leg. Listening to the kids talk is absolutely the most humbling thing." Despite the demands of her role at the foundation - which she describes as part fundraiser, part chief financial officer, and part cheerleader - Wandzura still tries to get out to every program for at least a few hours. "It really comes down to the smiles on the faces of the kids. It's about hearing a parent say, 'He's been home for three weeks now and he still can't stop talking about camp.'" Chosen charity: Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta |
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