25 Years of Happiness, Hope and Healing - Camp Sunshine

One Family’s Journey
6
C a m p S u n s h i n e
Camp Sunshine has meant so much to so
many families over the past 25 years, but
perhaps no family has had the fabric of their
lives more intertwined in Camp Sunshine’s
history than the Chapmans from Sydney, Maine.
It was the spring of 1982, and life could not have been
better for the Chapmans. They had two beautiful children,
a daughter, Kim, age nine and a son, Jason, who
was seven. Jason had above average grades, he was
athletic, and had dreams of becoming a doctor.
March 29th of that year would be a day the family
would never forget. In Jason’s own words, written in
a speech he was to deliver many years later: “There
was actually a single word that would change my life
forever: Medulloblastoma.” At the time, just two cases
of medulloblastoma, which accounts for 30% of brain
tumors in childhood, were diagnosed in Maine annually.
By day’s end the family found themselves at
Maine Medical Center, where Jason underwent 9 hours
of neurosurgery. The doctors estimated he had a 30%
chance of surviving 3 years.
Jason’s mother Carol recalls, “There was very little
support in Maine during the early 1980’s for families
battling childhood cancer. However, in 1984, we were
invited to attend Camp Sunshine’s very first session,
and it would prove to be the most wonderful experience
of our lives.” According to Carol, “For the first time
since the diagnosis two things occurred during our stay:
Jason was able to act like a child again, and my husband
and I found ourselves able to laugh.”
The family was so impressed with their stay at Camp
that they returned to volunteer the following year, determined
to repay the prior year’s gift.
The road ahead continued to be a struggle for the family
over the next 15 years, with surgery after surgery
and extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Besides cancer, only one other constant would remain
for the Chapmans—Camp Sunshine.
By 2005, Jason continued to defy all odds and at age
30 was one of the longest known survivors of medulloblastoma.
That same year, Jason returned to Camp
Sunshine, this time as a volunteer. He quickly became