Published Sunday, June 23, 2002
like a breath of fresh air
Herald Staff Writer
Jordan Watkins wore a trendy pair of dark sunglasses as she sang her version of "Alleluia" for her parents and camp buddies.
Her mother and father --watching and listening -- carried that special parental twinkle in their eyes. When 5-year-old Jordan finished her solo, Michelle and Reid Watkins, of 1741 Bend Road, Jefferson Township, praised their daughter.
She learned the song from camp volunteers at Fresh Air Camp, in Moreland Hills, a suburb of Cleveland. Until then, Jordan had never gone camping.
It was a first for many others at Fresh Air Camp. Fresh Air Camp, in its second year, is a free camping program for children who are ventilator-dependent. They range in age from 5 to 18 and come from across Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Jordan, who survives on a ventilator, has muscular dystrophy and gets around in a wheelchair. The majority of other campers at Fresh Air Camp are wheelchair- and ventilator-dependent.
The camp gives the children a one-week stay away from their usual hospital settings.
"When I found out about the camp I was ecstatic," Mrs. Watkins said. "We were so excited we could barely wait."
The camp program was developed by health care volunteers from several hospitals, which include Children's Hospitals Medical Center of Akron, Ohio; The Cleveland Clinic of Children's Hospital and for Rehabilitation of Cleveland, Ohio; MetroHealth Medical Center and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital of Cleveland, Ohio.
Kathy Whitford, camp co-director, said the camp helps ventilator-dependent children feel more inclusive. She said the young campers are used to feeling different from everyone else, but at Fresh Air Camp they get a chance to hang out with kids like themselves.
"For me, it's nice to see them having fun, which is the purpose of the camp," Ms. Whitford said. "As someone who works in the hospital with children on ventilators, we do a lot of stuff with the kids using technology. But if they can come out here and play and experience what other children do, it's all worth it," Ms. Whitford said.
There are volunteer medical staff on hand to assist with childrens' medical needs. Each camper is assigned a medical buddy. Jordan, for example has two medical buddies.
Jordan, like most kids, likes cartoons and loves toys. Though her speech is slightly impaired, she developed ways to communicate her feelings to her buddies at camp.
For example, whenever she gets tired or bored with something, she motions a yawn with her hand.
Campers are also assigned two non-medical buddies -- high school students who volunteered to help out with games, crafts and other activities.
Some campers have their own private-duty workers who come to help at camp. There are also respiratory therapists and nurses who work an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. Most of the campers need the help at night and their care workers need a rest at night.
Days at the camp are filled with activities for the kids. There's horseback riding, racing, fishing, swimming, crafts, campfires, wheelchair dancing and a plethora of other activities. Several donors helped with supplies and activities. For example, Cleveland MetroParks Zoo brought animals to the camp for the children to pet. An activity staff of 15 volunteers worked with donors to organize daily projects and made sure all campers were rewarded and awarded.
Jordan said she was enjoying her stay at camp. She participated in a dancing exercise, went fishing, did various arts and craft projects and was an airplane in the camp's talent show.
Watkins said when Jordan was born at UPMC Horizon in Greenville, the doctors noticed she was having breathing problems. She spent her first 6 months at Tod Children's Hospital in Youngstown on oxygen, a ventilator and a feeding tube before moving for a year to another hospital in Cleveland.
Jordan lives at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Berea, Ohio. Mrs. Watkins said no pediatricians in this area would take in a baby on a ventilator. Her parents and 4-year-old brother Logan visit her twice a week.
"She's been well taken care of," Mrs. Watkins said.
When she heard about Fresh Air Camp, she said she was "extremely" excited. Not only was Jordan going to go camping for the first time, but several nurses who had worked with her when she was an infant would be there.
"I was excited for them to see how much she had grown," Mrs. Watkins said. "I thought camp would be exciting for Jordy. She was too young to go last year."
Ms. Whitford said the camp is growing. There were 12 campers last year and 16 this year.
"We want it to grow incrementally. I think next year we'll need more space," she said.
Mrs. Watkins said she and her husband are planning to volunteer at the camp next year and work with the children.
"I think (the camp) is fantastic. I know it took a lot of time to coordinate everything. All those people were willing to give up their personal lives for a week," Mrs. Watkins said.
Jordan's buddies said they were having fun working with her and being around the other children.
"It's a lot of work, but they are so appreciative. You never hear one of them complain," said Erin Drwal, 16, Seven Hills, Ohio.
"You get attached to the kids. I'm really enjoying it. I don't want to leave," said Jordan's other buddy, Maria Constanzo, 17, Highland Heights, Ohio.
Watkins said he is "grateful for the nurses and volunteers."
After a day's visit with Jordan at camp, Mrs. Watkins collected several arts and crafts projects Jordan had done to take home. Among them was a small flower pot that Jordan painted.
"I've decided I'm going to get a small African violet to plant in it," Mrs. Watkins said.