Killingworth camp helps child burn survivors

KILLINGWORTH, Conn. (WTNH) — A summer camp in Killingworth is helping children who are burn survivors to embrace who they are, while gaining confidence.

Children’s Burn Camp, run by the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation, is a place where kids can feel a sense of belonging, while bonding with others who understand them on a deeper level.

“I feel like I belong here because being burned,” 15-year-old Haile Martinez said. “I get so many stares and I get judged, but as soon as I come here, and I don’t have social media and I don’t have anything, I’m just drawn away from all that. No matter what….they won’t judge.”

From kickball, to archery, to swimming, the week-long camp has offers numerous activities for campers for free and brings in in burn survivors from all over the world. The foundation’s president Andrew Pandiani’s daughter is among those survivors.

He said camp helped instill a level of confidence in her that is unmatched.

“She got that kind of courage by coming here to this camp, because before that she felt like she was the only one,” he said.

The camp is run by volunteer physical therapists, nurses and firefighters.

Camp director Steve Lupinacci, who spent 25 years as a firefighter in Stratford, said the camp helps survivors in their healing journey.

“If they come into this camp, and they see that there’s other children that have been burned, it helps with the psychological component,” he said. “There’s a physical component, but there’s also a psychological component.”

It has also been healing for Handel Dixon, a volunteer who once attended the camp himself.

“I look at them like they’re my own family,” he said. “It’s very important to show the kids that although they’re suffering from different injuries, we all have the same common goal at the end of the day, just to make sure they’re safe and happy.”

The foundation is currently working on another program for adult burn survivors.

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