SYRACUSE -- More than twenty young burn survivors from Upstate Medical Hospital's Clark Burn Center will join survivors from Rochester for the 17th annual Children's Burn Camp in Schuyler County this week.
Firefighters from Rescue 1 in Syracuse held a pancake breakfast for the camp attendees and their families Thursday morning.
Burn care nurses from Upstate, social workers and adult burn survivors will be volunteering at the camp. Chris McMahon, a nurse at Upstate's burn center, says young burn survivors often have a tougher time recovering emotionally from their burns. " When a kid gets burned they get scars, even though they may look different they are still the same kid. But often other children don't always see them that way they pick on them or they ridicule them. They treat them badly," he says.
Eric Pickerang was burned in a house fire, the 17 year old says spending time at Burn Camp with other burn survivors helps him feel less isolated. "I haven't been burned for very long so having someone understand what it is like for me is helpful," he says.
For more information, visit the Finger lakes Regional Burn Association.
