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Children with serious heart disease are often limited in their physical activities, are frequently absent from school and require special medication and treatments. For all of these reasons, they feel separated from their peers and unable to be part of “regular” life. They also feel separated from people like themselves, because they are few and far between.

Camp Del Corazon (“heart” in Spanish), a nonprofit summer camp for children 7 to 15 with heart disease or a history of it, provides the missing sense of normality and comradeship. The camp uses donated space at a for-profit camp on Catalina Island to give a week-long camping experience. Volunteer physicians and nurses administer medications and provide medical care, and some of the counselors had childhood heart disease.

Camp Del Corazon was developed by UCLA pediatrics staff in association with Catalina Island Camps Inc.

This year, the camp also organized a winter trip to Universal Studios, where the accompanying photos were taken by MARY G. WENTZ. The children’s quotes are from essays they wrote to win the trip to Universal.

LISA KNIGHT

UCLA pediatric nurse, cofounder of Camp Del Corazon

One day Dr. Kevin Shannon, [a UCLA pediatric cardiologist and cofounder of Camp Del Corazon] was telling me about a 12-year-old patient who was anxiously getting ready to go to a camp. The child was embarrassed about his large chest scars from three open heart operations and feared having to remove his shirt in front of the other kids.

Almost immediately, we came up with the idea to start our own camp for children with heart disease. We had a vision and we went for it. The initial camp session took place over Labor Day weekend, 1995. Forty-nine children were able to spend three days kayaking, swimming, hiking and enjoying a summer camp experience.

For most of these children, it was the first time they had been able to attend an overnight camp. And for all of them, it was their first experience with a group of peers.

Last summer at camp, I got sick with tachycardia, a heart irregularity. I had shortness of breath and a rapid heart beat. The kids got a thrill at seeing their nurse being treated and being attached to a heart monitor. They were so supportive and glad it wasn’t them for once.

The campers pay only $20 for five days of camp. The rest of the money comes from private donations and some corporate sponsorship. It costs $200 per camper for the session. So we have fund-raising events to come up with the difference.

For information call (310) 206-9110.