Campers can do

SEABROOK ISLAND — Tyshi Parrott is all tangled up. In the cool of the concrete floor gymnasium, she and her fellow campers, all burn victims from around the state, twist and maneuver to sort out a human knot without letting go of each other's hands.

At Camp Can Do, a five-day event put together by Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital nurses and South Carolina firefighters, exercises like these help campers to build confidence and relationships.

"I feel like I don't have to be ashamed of my burns because everyone here is burned," said Tyshi, 12.

When Tyshi was 6 years old, she took a bath in water that was too hot. Tyshi remembers crying out to her mother as the water burned her hands, legs, feet and thighs.

"She took me out, and she just started crying," she said.

At the Children's Hospital, she received skin grafts and was told to apply cocoa butter to help the healing. During her stay, one of the nurses told her and her parents about Camp Can Do. She has attended every summermer since then.

Camp Director Ken Gypin, resplendent in a straw cowboy hat, green sleeveless shirt and salmon-colored shorts, is popular with the campers; but his job continues year-round. A captain in the Columbia Fire Department, he has helped raise funds for all of the camp's 13 years. From firefighter calendar sales to motorcycle poker runs, he and other firefighters get creative to bring in the money.

Also in charge at the camp is Jill Evans, MUSC's coordinator of pediatric burn services. She observes the campers' interactions as they rotate through morning activities: platform crossing, wall climbing, hoop passing and other classic team-building exercises. Campers also enjoy beachfront cabins, early-morning fishing and events such as bowling night and movies in the camp chapel.

"It's a fun camp," Evans said. "We don't have scheduled therapy sessions. It just kind of all happens naturally."

Evans said she has watched the children commiserate and swap tips about the struggles that often follow severe burn trauma. They talk about the pain of wound-dressing, the staff in children's wards and the stress of being different in school.

"They're often the only kids in their class or school with burns, but they come here and see others with the same thing," Evans said.

With the shared experience comes the second part of recovery: emotional healing.

When T'Keyah Robinson, 15, first attended the camp five years ago, she insisted on wearing long sleeves even in the summer to hide the scarring on her left shoulder.

On Tuesday, she wore a white tank top, her arms in plain view of everyone. She said she still is sometimes uncomfortable in the halls of Timberland High School; but for one week every year, she is just like everyone else.