For children living with epilepsy, camp can become the first place they realize they are not alone.
When You’re the Only Kid You Know with Epilepsy
For many children living with neurological conditions like epilepsy, isolation can become part of everyday life.
After a diagnosis, experiences other kids move through without a second thought can start to feel different. Parents carry constant concern. Children can begin to feel separated from their peers, uncertain where they belong, or whether anyone truly understands what they are going through.
As Lucas’s mom, Neema, shared: “It’s hard, as parents, to let go in general, but even harder, I think, when your child is facing a serious medical issue.”
At Camp Boggy Creek, the SeriousFun Children’s Network camp in Florida, Lucas found something he had never experienced before: a medically safe space where he could fully participate, build friendships, and simply be a kid.
The medical team, including his own neurologist, was present throughout his stay, giving Neema peace of mind.
And Lucas, finally free from worrying about his condition, dove into camp life — fishing, boating, archery, arts and crafts, and theater.
On stage, playing the drums with abandon, he could finally, as he put it, “simply be himself.”
Meeting Another Child with Epilepsy
Then Lucas met Ethan, another camper living with epilepsy.
And for the first time, Lucas saw himself in someone else. He had never known another kid who shared his diagnosis.
Camp changed that.
When Lucas and Ethan later found themselves in the hospital at the same time, they felt relief just from being together, from being understood by someone who truly knew what he was going through.
That incredible bond is just one of the many transformative experiences that SeriousFun camps make possible.
But what happens after camp is what matters most. Neema said camp helped Lucas blossom, and that watching him confidently “grow and accept who he is with his epilepsy” was “probably the best thing that we could have gotten from camp.”
The Confidence Lucas Brought Home
Because of camp, Lucas found a new way to see himself, a future that feels possible, and the realization that he no longer has to navigate his world alone.