PHOENIX — So many times, children who have had cancer or their siblings often feel left out, left behind, or left with nowhere to turn — but there is a camp in Arizona that is changing that, and ABC15 was lucky enough to head there for a visit earlier this summer.
Each year, the Southwest Kids Cancer Foundation, an Arizona-based nonprofit organization, hosts Camp Sunrise and Sidekicks, with one week hosting siblings of children who have or have had cancer, the next week hosting the actual cancer survivors themselves.
Camp Sunrise started back in 1983, and according to the Southwest Kids Cancer Foundation, it is one of the oldest oncology summer camps in the entire country, with Camp Sidekicks (for siblings) beginning in 1988, and is one of the only camps for brothers and sisters, part of families impacted by childhood cancers.
On the surface, Camp Sunrise and Sidekicks looks like any other camp!
Tucked underneath the iconic Ponderosa pines in Payson, there are secret handshakes, jello wars, wild encounters, and the ability to forge your own path.
These are essentials for any summer camp, but Camp Sunrise and Sidekicks isn't just any camp; it's not just the brutal Valley summers campers are hoping to escape from. In fact, at this camp, the idea is to leave behind a lot of other things in the process.
"I stayed in the hospital for two years," says 12-year-old Tristan Begaye, who lives in Chandler. "And I had leukemia."
Like all his fellow campers, Tristan is a cancer survivor, and although his cancer battle began at just 17 months, so much of the journey is still very fresh for Tristan.
"Having my family right beside me," is what Tristan says he remembers about his time in the hospital, explaining he missed out on part of his childhood since he was sick.
And so the only prescription at Camp Sunrise and Sidekicks is to make up for lost time - and Tristan has been following the doctor's orders very closely, describing making new friends, taking part in Jello wars, and looking forward to returning to camp each year.
And he's not the only one!
"The second I left, I was counting down the days," explains Tristan's older sister, Kylie Begaye.
Kylie has been a camper since she was 9 years old, attending the special week for siblings.
"It's filled with other people who are going through the exact same thing."
This year, Kylie is back at camp, but this time, as a counselor, describing what it meant this summer to be there during the same week as her brother and to support him.
"It means everything, everything to me," Kylie explains. "He is ultimately my superhero. He is the strongest person I know, and he will forever be that for the rest of my life."
For the camp's assistant director Rebecca Determan, it's all about creating a sense of belonging.
"We are building this network of kids who have had cancer and can relate to each other and talk about the good and the bad and the impact it's had on their family," says Rebecca. "Cancer sucks. We have that on a t-shirt, but camp heals a part of that."
And it turns out, ABC15's Nick Ciletti had some healing to do of his own.
"It's part of your everyday," he says. "You never forget it...and you just see how lucky you are."
Like these campers, Nick is also a pediatric cancer survivor. As a baby, he was diagnosed with a cancer known as neuroblastoma. The camp provided an unexpected window into parts of his past.
"We are painting your nails!" explains a group of excited young girls; the campers in the Ladybugs cabin say, there's nothing a good manicure cannot fix.
And surprisingly, it has provided a safe space for these kids to just be themselves - no doctors, no needles, no judgement.
"I had leukemia," explains 8-year-old Charlotte from Surprise. She's been cancer-free for more than a year, but the memories of her fights are still so fresh.
"I could taste the medicine when I woke up," she explains. "And I got a lot of ice cream when I woke up."
For these campers, bonded in battle, their wars against their disease have ended, and a new chapter begins; the campers say they can leave parts of their past behind and focus on just being kids again.
"It's amazing! It's amazing!" the group says.
"It's an incredible opportunity for these kids to share and be brought together by something so terrible, but still feel so loved," says Rebecca.
It's something she and her family know all too well.
"I wanted to be able to give back to the people who helped me through such a traumatic time in my life."
Rebecca is not only a counselor, but she and her sister are camp alum. Her younger sister, Rachel, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006.
"There is a picture of her dancing with a cowboy hat on, and I asked if I could have it," Rebecca says.
They are pictures, forever etched into Rebecca's head and heart, that keep Rachel's memory alive. Sadly, in 2008, almost three years after her diagnosis, she died of a staph infection.
"I see her face in my campers...I think I miss her hugs the most. She gave the most fulfilling hugs, full-body, all the love in the world. That's what I miss the most."
For Rebecca, although nothing can bring back Rachel, knowing she's able to give back in such a unique way has proven to be a way to not only grieve her loss, but keep her sister's memory alive.
"It's also fulfilling where it's healing my heart a little bit each summer or each conversation, but it also fills my cup to give back and what a unique opportunity to go both things at once."
To learn more about Camp Sunrise and Sidekicks and the Southwest Kids Cancer Foundation and to donate, click here: https://www.swkidscancerfoundation.org/
