Posted June 03, 2005
Thomasville- A summer camp in Thomasville is coupling fun with what could potentially be lifesaving education. Camp Easy Air helps kids with asthma learn how to cope with and manage the disease.
Rooks Pullen is only nine years old, but he's learning to cope with something many adults have trouble dealing with: asthma. "Your chest feels tight, you kind of cough sometimes, and you feel wheezy," says Pullen.
Pullen is a member of Camp Easy Air, a program designed to teach kids with the obstructive airway disease. "Even though you have asthma you can still be like everyone else," says Pullen.
Camp Director Juana Stewart says Easy Air is so much more than that though. It's also about managing asthma. "They use medication and we're here to try to teach them the proper way to use those, the reason they're using those, and techniques that will help them to breathe easier," says Stewart.
The children are also taught how to take care of themselves if they have a serious asthma attack. But in case they need a little extra help: "We have a nebulizer here that we could actually use to treat we needed to have nebulizer therapy. We have a respiratory therapist here on staff," says Stewart.
If you think all of those elements make it impossible for these kids to lead a normal life, think again. "With proper medication therapy, you will have symptoms, but it can be reversed," says Stewart. Pullen is living proof. "I hope it'll be this fun next year," he says. And many more years to come. Easy Air has been helping kids breathe easier since 1996, and has grown annually.
Camp Easy Air is sponsored by Archbold Hospital, and is based out of the Thomasville Community Resource Center. It's partially paid for with state grants.
Feedback: news@walb.com
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 Worldnow and WALB, a Raycom Media Station. 
