Some of the kids Shannon got close to
did not make it back for another summer
camp. It is a heartbreaking ending that
Shannon is all too familiar with as he
tells an inspiring story.
“I got close to one of the kids who
passed away. A 13-year-old boy had
bone cancer, and he had been coming to
camp for multiple years and was beating
cancer,” Shannon says. “The first year I
had him was the first year after having
his arm amputated. I still remember
quite vividly when he was getting in the
pool for the first time; he sank right to
the bottom and just had a meltdown. He
couldn’t swim anymore. He was one of
the kids with an illness who we were told
would not be coming back.”
“So at the end of the week I had this
rainbow, goofy wristband that all the kids
had been asking for the whole summer.
I took it off and put it on this boy’s wrist
and I said, ‘You just hold on to this and
show it off, and I look forward to seeing
you next summer after you’ve gone on
a bunch of trips.’ He had told me about
how he wanted to go game hunting in
Africa. But unfortunately the young man
passed away two months before camp
started again, and he was 14 years old.”
Stories like this do not get Shannon
down for too long. They just motivate him
to continue his drive to help others.
“I don’t yet have the knowledge or
skills to go specifically fight cancer, but
I can go be with these kids and comfort
them,” he says. “I’m just not actually
treating them. And that’s what breaks
my heart more than them passing away.
I have to sit and watch it. Each child that
has an affliction that I can’t help with —
that’s just more fire in my belly to go do
something more.”
Shannon gets his determination to
help others from his older sister who has
special needs and who he helped raise.
“Taking care of my sister early on, I
got the notion in my head that I needed
to go into health care in some way,”
Shannon stated with passion. “I love
taking care of people that don't have it
as well as I did. Because these people,
these kids, my sister, they didn’t choose
to have these afflictions. They can't heal
themselves or rid themselves of these
ailments, so it's on people like myself
who have been blessed with a ton of
different achievements and different
skills to take care of these kids. And it’s
just something I really enjoy doing.”
The entire summer camp experience
was something new for Shannon, and
although he felt some hesitation in the
beginning, he was sure this is where
he belonged.
“I didn't really know what I was
getting into when I first started working
at Camp John Marc. But I got there and
right away you just know the immediate
impact you’re having because these kids
are just so elated for you to be there.
Some describe you as their best friend,”
Shannon says. “They just don't want to
leave at the end of the week, and they
just leave in tears. It is just so cool and
exciting to see the impact that you’re
Shannon having fun with a buddy at Camp John Marc
