Locals attend Camp Beyond the Scars
The Burn Institute of Imperial and San Diego counties held a visitor’s day for media on Thursday, all to witness a special camp for burn victim survivors.
News 11 traveled to Ramona, California to experience a day at Camp Beyond the Scars.
“Well, they’re just scars, they don’t change who the person you are inside, they do change your appearance though but, you can work with it,” said Kevin Chavez, burn survivor and Brawley Resident.
Kevin is returning to the camp for the first time in ten years. He was invited back after a camp counselor saw him featured on our sister station Telemundo.
He was burned on 90 percent of his body when he was 7 years old.
“I’m a leader in training, I want to help the kids with their, so they can feel confident with themselves and they could do things without being uncomfortable,” explained Chavez.
“I was a little kid, so I was just playing and running around, I was playing limbo with the line, and then on one of the occasions I kind of tripped and when I tripped the line caught my neck and through the momentum the oil fell on me, on my left side,” said Ana Galvez, burn survivor and former Calexico resident.
Ana has been attending camp for 14 years; she says coming here has built her confidence.
“I’m very self-conscience of who I am but thanks to camp it has made me feel more comfortable. It has made me more comfortable, with just the simple fact of wearing shorts because I got burned on my left leg,” added Galvez.
At Camp Beyond the Scars, campers are given the tools to not only build confidence but to make life-long friendships.
“It definitely helps you create deeper bonds with other people, even if they are not burn survivors, it helps you to be able to establish kind of a communication that you wouldn’t otherwise know how to establish,” said Miguel Villa, Burn Survivor and Seeley Resident.
Established in 1987, this special camp has become one of the burn institute’s most successful support programs for burn survivors.
Kids and young adults, ages 8-21 are all welcomed by the Burn Institute and camp is funded through fundraisers conducted by local firefighters and other agencies.
One young survivor shared what she learned her first year of camp.
“It feels good because I’ve never seen another burn survivor and I can relate to them because they have scars like I do. It’s okay to be like this, there’s a whole bunch of other burn survivors out there, and just that it’s okay to have scars because they’re beautiful you know,” said Andrea Liera, burn survivor and Imperial resident.
If you are interested in camp beyond the scars or other programs provided by the burn institute, you can visit http://www.burninstitute.org/.
