Warsaw 10-year-old Anna Conley recently attended a camp for children with physical disabilities this month.
Anna, who was born with cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair and can’t walk or talk, attended Camp Riley put on by Riley Children’s Foundation June 28 to July 3.
The camp was at Bradford Woods, Indiana University’s outdoor recreation center, 20 miles southwest of Indianapolis near Martinsville. Eligible children ages 8 to 18 can attend one of five Camp Riley sessions offered over a six-week span.
The cost to attend the camp is $400 for a one-week session and $800 for a two-week session.
Anna had a ruptured placenta in the wall of the uterus that cut off her oxygen. and damaged her brain, which affects her motor skills at birth.
She will attend Pierceton Elementary in the fall and will be in fifth grade.
It was Anna’s second year for attending the camp, according to her mother, Beverly Conley. She went the year before last and this year.
Beverly said she found out about the camp through Riley Hospital For Children where Anna goes once a year at the cerebral palsy clinic where she sees orthopedic doctors and neurologists.
While she was at the camp she camped in a sensory cave where there were lights and swings with stuffed animals around her.
She also enjoyed a tower structure where she was strapped in and pulled up and went on a boat ride.
“She loves to swim and she was in a cabin with four other girls,” Beverly said.
She had a counselor who gave her one-on-one attention.
Anna was excited to see her friends at the camp from a previous year.
Beverly said she sent letters to Anna when she was at camp.
“I sent her two letters while she was gone and the counselors read them to her,” Beverly said.
Anna made a photo scrapbook of her adventures at the camp.
Beverly said the camp helps Anna learn to adjust to others and recommends the camp to others who have physical disabilities.
“There are doctors and nurses at the camp and the care is great and they care about the kids and want them to enjoy the camp,” Beverly said.
Visit rileykids.org/camp for more information about the camp.
(Story By The Times Union)
