Every summer, Texas Children’s staff and their patients make the 90-mile trek to Camp for All, a 100-acre, barrier-free recreational facility that enables children with special needs to experience the thrill of camping just like normal kids their age.
“It’s a place where they feel safe and comfortable because everyone is just like them,” said Texas Children’s Neurology Chief Dr. Gary Clark, who is the lead physician at Camp Spike N Wave. “In partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation, we provide the medical infrastructure so children can have a safe camping experience, while doing everything that anybody would do in any other camp.”
Wheelchair bound or not, children engage in a fun-filled week of adrenaline-pumping activities like zip lining, rock wall climbing, swimming, horseback riding, archery, rope courses, basketball, and canoeing in a lake. They build friendships and unleash their independent spirit, while focusing less on their illness or physical disabilities.
Texas Children’s oncologist Dr. ZoAnn Dreyer is the medical director for Camp Periwinkle. She and her staff collaborate with the Periwinkle Foundation to bring more than 185 patients from Texas Children’s Cancer Center to camp each summer.
“Often times, our patients are marked by their cancer,” Dreyer said. “Being in the normal environment can be really tough for them. Here at camp, the playing field is equal for everyone.”
Camps like Camp Periwinkle and Camp Spike N Wave would not be possible without the diligent efforts of Texas Children’s own, Dr. Robert Zeller, chief of the Blue Bird Clinic, who collaborated with other physicians to create Camp for All in 1993.
“I had a patient with epilepsy who couldn’t go to camp because camps wouldn’t accept children with this condition,” Zeller said. “This prompted me to develop a camp for children with medical and physical challenges where they can discover life without barriers. It’s my way of giving back to my patients.”