SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. (WTVF) — A lot of us have such great memories of going to summer camp. A donor-funded medical camp in southern Kentucky is making sure every child gets to experience that.
Boots the cat stretched and stood up outside a horse stable, watching a group of guests approach. Among the guests was Lindsey Kinsman.
“Boots is my favorite cat ever,” she laughed. “He is a very handsome man. I’ve always been a huge animal person.”
It’s not only the animals that make Lindsey appreciate her time at this place.
“I was born with spina bifida,” she said. “I am fully paralyzed from the waist down. I have four other siblings. I always witnessed them going to camp and me never being able to.”
Then, Lindsey’s parents found The Center for Courageous Kids non-profit in Scottsville, Kentucky. Lindsey said coming here as a young child was life changing.
“Walk on!” she shouted after a team of workers helped her get on a horse.
“I think it’s one of the most exhilarating, magical feelings ever, being able to ride the horses,” Lindsey said.
“Children who cannot walk, riding a horse is the closest sensation they can get to walking,” CEO Darren Dannelly said. “The Center for Courageous Kids is a camp for kids with lifelong illness or developmental disabilities. The campers come based on their diagnoses. Some of the diagnoses we serve are physical disabilities. That’s what’s here this week. We also serve children with cancer, children with sickle cell, children with epilepsy, hearing loss. There’s over a hundred diagnoses that we have served. We have advanced medical professionals on staff 24 hours a day. [The kids] can forget about everything and just be a kid.”
Going to camp here is free for campers.
They do a lot of the usual camp stuff, canoeing and fishing. There’s a bowling alley, and, of course, there’s Boots’ domain; the horseback riding stables.
“YEEEHAW!” Lindsey shouted, turning a corner on the horse.
Lindsey sees just how much other kids are getting from what might be their first camp experience.
“What pulled me in was the friendly faces I get to see all the time,” Lindsey said. “It all just becomes a big family.”
The camp does some family weekend retreats during the school year. During the summer, there are weeks for kids who want to go independently and also weeks for a family summer camp.
For more on The Center for Courageous Kids, visit here.
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This is a beautiful story of chosen family, proving a father figure doesn’t have to have biology in common to make a difference in a child’s life. The story of De’Andre and Alex will remind you that our relationships help determine the course of our lives. And that being supportive of someone – through a meal, a shared experience or even swim lessons can make all the difference.
– Rebecca Schleicher
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