STANFORD, Calif-- For immediate release
 
When: 
Tuesday, July 25, 9:45-11:00am
 
Where: 
Ambulatory Care Center, 730 Welch Rd., Palo Alto, CA, across from Packard Children’s
(Transplant video is available for broadcast media)
 
Overview: 
This Tuesday at Packard Children’s Hospital, 60 kids will say goodbye to their parents, pile onto a bus and head off to summer camp.
 
It’s an emotional scene repeated all over America this time of year, but this one has a little twist. Each of these happy campers owes their life to the miracle of a new heart, kidney, liver or lung. They’re gathering at Packard Children’s to head off for “transplant camp,” an annual 5-day adventure sponsored by Packard Children’s and the Health Camp Program at St. Dorothy’s Rest Camp and Retreat Center in Sonoma County.
 
“These are very normal kids who want normal life experiences,” said Christina Dong, MSW, social worker at Packard Children’s. “Still, they do have special medical needs.” That means that in addition to the swimsuit, camera, and sunscreen, kids will have to check in their meds before boarding the bus. Nurses, social workers, and child life specialists are also packing their bags, but the camp certainly won’t be a medical setting. “These kids will swim, canoe, even challenge a ropes course,” said Dong. “Sharing such fun with others who have been through the transplant experience is very life-affirming.” Among those available for interviews and photos at the hospital sendoff include:

• 13-year-old Trevor Samson of Fresno, CA, who’s attending for his first time. As an infant, he received a living donor liver transplant from mom Pennie. No one knew that many years later she’d be sending Trevor on such an extraordinary trip. “I've never been away this long by myself,” said Trevor, “and I plan on making it a blast.”
  
  
• Charles Royal, a 12-year-old heart transplant recipient from Oceano, CA. He can’t wait to board the bus and head on out with his new friends. “He went last year for the first time and loved it,” said dad Charles, Sr., “and he certainly likes getting away from his parents for a few days.”
  
  
• Marina Monica, a 19-year-old kidney transplant recipient from Santa Clara, CA. Now a mentor to other kids of transplant, Marina is attending this year as a camp counselor. “When I first went to transplant camp in 2001, I was a little scared, but after a few days, it was one big family and none of us wanted to leave.”