A trip to Kimball camp unlike any other
by Pete Cunningham
*As printed October 24, 2007 in The Homer Index 

Key to the city of Hillsdale, check. Rubbing elbows with the mayor, no sweat. Surviving the removal of a malignant tumor from the brain, with ease. Learning to walk again, nothing to it.

This is the resumé of Keelan McConnell. It’s littered with more hospital visits than an EMS driver, more blood tests than a Red Cross mobile unit and enough missed school days to give his mother - the teacher - fits until she’s blue in the face.

Last week, the sixth grader from Litchfield stopped adding to that lengthy resumé and finally got back to his real job, being a kid.

For three days, Keelan attended Kimball outdoor learning center in Reading with his classmates, and for all three days he didn’t have to worry about a single doctor’s appointment. No one ran any scans on him and no one checked his charts. Keelan traded the confines of a waiting room to the spaciousness of log cabin.

Keelan is still undergoing chemotherapy, after having a medulloblastoma removed in January, and he isn’t quite at full strength. Because of this, it would have been hard for him to walk to all the class’ activities at Kimball camp. No matter. With the help of an all-terrain Gator - generously lent out by local farmer Don Marshall - Keelan was able to get to every activity in style. With his teacher Darin Young captaining the vessel, Keelan rode shotty and saved his strength for more important matters.

Keelan saved that energy for climbing the rock wall, coined “Goliath.” He only got about four steps up the behemoth-sized wall, which he said was about four steps more than he thinks his dad would have accomplished.

He saved that energy to swing across the 40 foot rope swing (his favorite), and he saved that energy to horse around with his friends. From the looks of it, he may have saved himself enough energy to set the world record for consecutive minutes smiling as well.

Lucky for me, after all of that, Keelan still had enough energy to tell me all about camp. He had plenty of gusto to tell his story about meeting the mayor, how cool it was to get a key to the city, and to tell me how he almost lost his “tummy” on the high swing.

He told me to thank Mr. Marshall and the others that helped make his camp experience happen. He said that it was amazing, incredible. Keelan said that it was downright awesome.

His smile was contagious and, by the time I left, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had gotten the right Keelan. How could this be the kid that they were worried about being tired? The suggestion of him being exhausted seemed outlandish, and as he continued on about his friends, camp food and, of course, “Goliath” the thought of him being somewhat fatigued became more and more ludicrous.

As was the beauty of the situation. Through the combined efforts of the community, the school and his parents, Keelan didn’t have to fathom that thought either. When he was at camp he didn’t have to be a survivor, and he didn’t have to be a patient. Keelan McConnell finally got back to being Keelan McConnell, kid extraordinaire.