Camp ‘Can’ Do at MUSC for child burn victims back after 2-year COVID hiatus

By Zharia Jeffries zjeffries@postandcourier.com

Aug 22, 2022

At 6 years old Lucas Parra joined an unfortunately growing number of children in South Carolina. 

He and his mother, Ashlee Parra, were making dinner at their home in West Ashley. Placing his step stool inches away from the stovetop and within arm’s length of his mother, he climbed up to the kitchen counter to make his regular glass of chocolate milk. 

Parra was boiling a pot of water on the stove when suddenly, Lucas’s stool gave out underneath him. 

As he fell to the floor his right elbow tipped the pot of boiling water over, scalding his face, shoulder and arm.  

Drenched in boiling water, his Orange Grove Elementary School sweatshirt clung to his skin, causing second- and third-degree scald burns. He’d just started first grade. 

“It was one of the scariest days of my life,” Parra said. 

Over 1,000 people in South Carolina will need inpatient burn care each year. And since 2020, a growing number of kids in South Carolina have been hospitalized at the South Carolina Burn Center at MUSC Health, the only inpatient burn care center in the state.

Tiffany Smith is the pediatric burn program coordinator at the center. She said nationally, pediatric burn numbers rose during the pandemic as kids stayed home and cooked more often. 

And in 2022 the number of children hospitalized for burn treatment at MUSC increased over 40 percent from 2020. 

Smith also serves as the director for Camp ‘Can’ Do, a free five-day camp designed for children who’ve suffered burn injuries and hosted by MUSC Burned Children’s Fund and South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association. 

“What’s really great about the camp is they can be with other kids who have been through similar experiences,” Parra said. “They’re able to be with kids who understand what it’s like to be looked at because they have scars.”

This year marks the camp’s first year back in operation since taking a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions. Kids ages 6-17 bunkered down at Camp St. Christopher on Seabrook Island Aug. 6-11. 

“It was amazing to watch these children just be kids and not worry about their burn injury or if they had a scar and live life to the fullest,” Smith told The Post and Courier. 

A lasting impression

Days at Camp ‘Can’ Do start early, with campers rising at 6 a.m. to go fishing on the docks, followed by a group breakfast and activities based on the theme for that year.

This year’s theme was “Under the Sea,” so campers visited the Splash Zone water park on James Island and the South Carolina Aquarium, ending their evenings beachside. 

For many camp volunteers like firefighters, pediatric burn team members and adult burn survivors, working with burn survivors every year leaves a lasting impression on both parties. 

This was the case for Ross Vezin, deputy chief of operations for the Beaufort Port Royal Fire Department and camp counselor for more than 10 years. 

He recalled years ago, watching one of his campers who’d been severely burned in a house fire as an infant catch his first fish at the docks at Camp St. Christopher. 

The camper’s burns were so severe his hands, nose and ears were unsalvageable, and left him with a prosthetic nose and ears. 

“To see him catch a fish for the first time with no fingers or hands, just using his arm to reel in the fish down at the fishing dock at 7 a.m. kind of changed my life,” Vezin said. 

“All he had on his face the rest of the week was a smile,” Vezin added. 

In the blink of an eye

Smith said most of the burns she sees at MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital are scald burns, which occur when exposed to hot liquid or vapor. 

She said many of these patients can heal within seven days depending on the depth and size of the burn. But there are instances where a patient needs surgery, like a skin substitute or autograph, the process of taking skin from a different part of the patient’s body and placing it over the burn to heal. 

Lucas has had two surgeries since his incident nearly 10 years ago. One was a skin substitute. The other was to perfect the look of one the scars on his right arm. 

“As a mom, you think something like this will never happen to you,” Parra said. “But it happened in the blink of an eye.”

Lucas was invited to the camp the summer of 2013 by his nurses at the Medical University of South Carolina, months after his accident. They helped care for him after his skin graph surgery and were instrumental in getting the program started. 

Now 15 years old and a sophomore at West Ashley High School, Lucas has attended every camp since 2013. 

He’s not afraid of the kitchen

According to a recent report from the National Library of Medicine, nearly 20 percent of school-aged children experienced significant traumatic stress reactions less than a month after sustaining a burn. 

The reactions include avoidance, hyperarousal and flashbacks. The report also found that some kids feel a “reexperience” every time they mention their burn injury and many are worried about whether they will fully recover.  

Parra said she is proud of the way Lucas has dealt with the hardships of having a burn injury. Whether it’s standing up to a middle school bully or volunteering and advocating for the Burned Children’s Fund, Lucas hasn’t let his injury hinder his progress. 

“He’s still very outgoing and likes to tell jokes and laugh,” Parra said. 

Lucas also works at the Early Bird Diner in Charleston as a dishwasher and busboy and hopes to graduate to line cook in the near future. 

“Its funny,” Parra said proudly, “he’s really not afraid to be in the kitchen. Now, he’s big into culinary arts.”

Local Beaufort/Port Royal Firefighter Volunteers at Camp 'Can' Do

Vezin, who also serves on the camp’s planning committee, is happy to give back to the community by volunteering and helping to brighten the days of camp attendees.

“I would do anything to help these kids make it the best week of their year. It is rewarding to see smiles on their faces,” Vezin said.

While some camp activities have been modified to accommodate this group’s specific needs, the camp is designed to allow the children to have fun, build self-esteem, and develop friendships with others who have experienced similar injuries.

Annually, community volunteers including firefighters, MUSC Children’s Hospital staff and pediatric burn team members, adult burn survivors, students, and other individuals committed to supporting the recovery of burn-injured children come together to provide a happy camp experience.

Funds raised through the sale of aluminum cans donated to fire stations around the state help to support Camp “Can” Do. To donate aluminum cans in the Beaufort area, visit any fire station in Beaufort or Port Royal.

Seabrook Island, S.C., Aug. 28, 2019 – Beaufort/Port Royal firefighter Ross Vezin, who is celebrating his 10th year as a counselor, was one of many volunteers who attended the 23rd Annual Camp “Can” Do on Seabrook Island in South Carolina.

The Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Health and South Carolina Firefighters sponsor the five-day camp for children across South Carolina and neighboring states. The free five-day camp is designed especially for children who have suffered a severe burn injury. This year, more than 40+ campers and burn victims attended.