3, 2, 1, fly!

remember when i said sometimes i get to sit and wait for things that need doing? this is what needed doing last camp:

for the past 3 summers look up lodge has been blessed with the presence of a camper named Christina. she is no ordinary camper. she has the beautiful spirit and gratefulness of a person beyond her 12 years. she has also suffered a very physically difficult life. she is mostly in a wheel chair because she is lacking the majority of her legs. but sometimes you will catch her walking on her hands from place to place.

last year we successfully harnessed her to the zip line, which she loved.
this year, her request was to ride the giant swing. seen below:

 

because of her proportions, this was no simple task. (unless you have done this before, then it would be). i have a little experience in special setups for participants with special needs from my other camp work, but thankfully my friends in the industry have more.

after trying a few things with the equipment that we had on hand, we decided it would be a no go for Saturday, but we would go back to the drawing board and see what else we could come up with.

with the permission and credit card of the executive director, we bought a new harness. and with the permission from the recreation director from another camp, we borrowed some daisy chain.

 

and at about 3pm on Sunday we set out to try again.

after harnessing up in the new harness and some extra strapping to help support her torso. Christina was secured to the swing ready to give it a try.

with the extra support of her counselor trey and her step mom with arms locked behind her, we attached them to the winch and began the ride.

much to the joy of those watching and especially to the joy of Christina and her step mom, the ride was a success! and Christina shouted with joy and proclaimed “this is awesome!”

there is also a video here

 

once the ride ended and we unhooked everyone from the swing, Christina hugged and thanked each of us that were working the swing that day multiple times.

and again we are all reminded of why we do this thing from day to day.

some days around here are pretty typical, even mundane, but this day was not that. this day, as Christina said, "was awesome."