A visit to the playground near their home is often more frustrating than fun for six-year-old Jace Clifton and his mother, Sharee. Each trip involves a struggle to push his wheelchair across an expanse of mulch made from recycled tires. Then Sharee has to help move Jace on and off the few pieces of playground equipment that can accommodate him. “It’s always exhausting to let him try to do things that other kids get to do on their own,” Sharee says. So imagine the Clifton family’s delight when they arrived at Children’s Harbor at Lake Martin to attend Camp Sunshine and spotted the inclusive playground. “There’s no restrictions at that park,” Sharee says. “There’s so much stuff for him to do. There’s a merry-go-round, and he can roll on by himself, and we don’t have to transfer him.” Other equipment features ramps “so he can just roll over there and climb out of his chair easily . . . [and then] go do it again.
At Camp Sunshine, the Clifton family, from Pinson, Alabama, entered a world designed for children like Jace, who was diagnosed with spina bifida before birth. He has had multiple surgeries for the congenital condition that affects the spinal cord, and though he can standoccasionally, Jace uses a wheelchair full time. Sharee says he has often asked why he is the only child at school whose legs don’t work. Camp Sunshine surrounded Jace with friends like himself — some using wheelchairs or canes or orthotic braces, but all with spina bifida — and he felt right at home.
Jace participated in all kinds of camp activities, from making art and singing karaoke to enjoying rides on the wheelchair-accessible golf cart and a pontoon boat. Sharee noticed that each activity was thoughtfully developed to be fun while benefiting the children. In the pool, for example, a camp counselor taught Jace some basic swimming lessons. “He is scared usually to put his face under the water, but she had him wanting to do it over and over again,”Sharee says. “That makes my heart so happy that he got to try something new and loved doing it.” After the lessons, Jace told her, “I’m so proud of myself, Mommy!”
The whole Clifton family enjoyed camp, with dad John and sisters Kayleigh and Kenzie How Camp Sunshine changed the lives of the Clifton family especially enjoying tubing on the lake. For Sharee, the getaway provided a much-needed break. While she still attended to Jace’s routine medical care, she didn’t have to cook meals or plan activities because everything was provided. “You just get to hang out and play all day,” she says. Because Camp Sunshine is tailored to children like Jace, she also didn’t have to worry about things like him coming into contact with latex, which can trigger a potentially life-threatening allergy in people with spina bifida. She appreciated the camp’s cleanliness as well — an important factor for families who have spent a lot of time with their children in hospitals.
Sharee compares Camp Sunshine to a family reunion because the staff included people who had helped care for Jace in the hospital, and the Cliftons had previously met many other campers and their families. “You’ll have the same struggles, and you can give each other advice or opinions on things,”Sharee says. “[They] know what you’re talking about.” Ever since the Clifton family’s first visit to Camp Sunshine last summer, Jace has been asking when they can go back, and the family is planning to return year after year for more fun. “If Jace could go every month, he would totally do it,” Sharee says.
