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Camp Hope Restores Hope In Young Burn Victims

Posted at 7:02 PM, Aug 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-05 20:22:12-04

Camp Hope provides a fun place for kids who have suffered burn injuries to escape and connect during the summer.

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center's annual summer camp is opened to burn survivors between the ages of 6-16, and children who have sustained burns and was admitted to or treated by a burn center.

Camp Director Rebecca Lemley is a nurse at Vanderbilt.

As a nurse, she knows that it's not just the physical burns that have hurt these kids, but the emotional scars as well.

“To see these kids swimming it's the first time they've gone swimming in public since their injury,” said Lemley.

Other workers at the camp include firefighters like Eric Stone, who is a Chattanooga firefighter.

Camp Hope is a nonprofit organization. All of the volunteers use their own vacation time to run the camp.