After battling cancer at a young age, learning how to ski black diamonds doesn’t seem so bad. Just ask Chicago teen Mike Gordon, who is attending his second ski camp with the Children’s Oncology Services’ (OCS) One Step at a Time winter camp program.
“It didn’t know it was that fun,” Gordon said after finishing a challenging run at Park City Mountain Resort.
OCS, a Chicago-based program that works with children who are battling or who have survived cancer, works with the National Ability Center (NAC) each year to bring a group of kids to the slopes of Park City to learn how to ski and snowboard and find a common bond with one another.
“One Step at a Time is a group we all look forward to hosting each year,” said NAC CEO Dale Schoon. “For almost two decades the teenagers from One Step have been skiing with us as a way to build their self-esteem and learn new skills after battling cancer.”
According to OCS director Nancy Townsend, a survivor of childhood cancer herself, the program is designed not only to expose the youth to new sports but also to restore self-esteem and independence.
Making the trip were 30 youth and 16 adult chaperones from all over the Midwest, including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. A pediatric oncologist and pediatric oncology nurse are also a part of the group. The trip is well supported by members of the Park City community with donations of food, housing and other items. Besides the yearly trek to Utah, they also hold summer camps that allow the kids to try other outside sports.
The campers take lessons throughout the week and slowly become acclimated to the snow. They are matched with the NAC instructors, who have experience working with people who are blind, amputees or have other challenges.
“We take it slow through progressions,” said NAC instructor Phil Bengford.
the end of the week, most of the kids are already at the intermediate skill level.
“The kids begin to realize they can do things,” Townsend said. “These kids are able to do the same as other kids. They just have some special needs.”
Matt White, who has a number of physical challenges as a result of brain cancer at age 3, went from being a sit-skier to skiing upright with just a little help from a guide.
“The kids get some control back in their lives,” Townsend said.
Kara Rouse of Streamwood, Ill., who was attending her second ski camp, found that conquering her fears was one of the most rewarding parts of the experience.
“Last year, I was more or less a nervous wreck,” she said. “It took me two days to get on the lift. Once I did, I kept getting better.”
At the time, she was also undergoing chemotherapy and didn’t have any hair. This year she is doing a lot better in all respects. She is still receiving chemo treatments but has some hair back and is a lot more confident on her skis.
“I’m not afraid like last year,” she said.
Rouse, who is 16, has found that the camp offers her a lot of support.
“There’s not a lot of people outside of camp that knew what I was going through the people here make me comfortable in my own skin,” she said.
She has a lot in common with Gordon, who has also felt alone with his disease at times. Gordon is an amputee, having lost his right leg to bone cancer. After the amputation, he attended the OCS ski camp the next winter and learned to ski. He missed the last two camps when the cancer came back in his lungs. But this year he was healthy enough to participate again and made the most of it. When Gordon wasn’t skiing black diamonds, he was navigating the terrain park to see what all he could do on his good leg. Gordon said he never would have tried skiing with OCS and is counting the blessing he has.
Gordon, who also plays basketball and football, is a natural athlete, so skiing wasn’t too much of a stretch. But as an African American from a large urban city, he said he was definitely the first of his friends to try skiing. In fact, when he told everyone where he was going, they insisted that he had to take pictures throughout the trip just to prove he was really skiing.
“They didn’t believe me,” Gordon said, smiling.
Like Rouse, he said that the camp makes him feel more comfortable with his cancer and himself as a person.
“After I got a prosthetic, I always kept it to myself,” he said. “Now I feel more comfortable. There are not that many people I know that have had cancer.”
Another teen at his school was recently diagnosed with bone cancer and Gordon said that he was the first to go over and offer his support, knowing what a difference the support of OCS had been in his life. Townsend said she hopes to see that kid take part in OCS programs soon.
This isn’t the only camp that the NAC hosts that is making a difference in children’s lives. The NAC also welcomes similar groups from Texas and the Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake each winter.