The 'Candy Man' helps burn victims get past their scars
Frank Szivos remembers a boy from Israel who, when he first came to the Arthur C. Luf Children’s Burn Camp in Union some years ago, wore a hoodie despite the 80- to 90-degree weather, afraid the world would glimpse his scars if he took it off.
“By mid- to late week, he was running around, jumping in all kinds of photos,” said Szivos, executive director of Connecticut Burns Care Foundation.
Since 1991, the foundation has been running the one-week camp each summer in an attempt to provide emotional healing and boost confidence in children who’ve suffered serious burns — some worse than others.
The camp, which kicked off its 25th year Sunday, has seen countless 8- to 18-year-old children blossom, conquering ropes courses and taking on water activities they likely thought their injuries prevented them from doing.
“Many of them have had 10, 12 surgeries,” Szivos said, explaining that some are missing limbs because of their burns while others regularly have to have skin grafts. “They’re very brave — they’ve been through a lot.”
For 19 years, retired New London firefighter Victor Spinnato has been watching — and helping — the kids transform.
One of around 100 firefighters, nurses and physical therapists who volunteer to be counselors, oversee activities and handle logistics each summer — all of whom are trained in the areas in which they work — the 67-year-old said he keeps coming back because “it’s just one big family.”
“When the kids get here Sunday, it’s unbelievable how the buses come in,” Spinnato said. “You can hear them on the bus pulling up the road.”
And when they leave the following Sunday, he said, there’s not a dry eye in the place.
“I look forward to it every year,” he said.
Known as the “Candy Man” — New London firefighters union IAFF Local 1522 donates money each year so he can keep a stash of candy on hand — Spinnato started out as a counselor but has since moved to logistics.
Whether ensuring campfires are stocked with wood or roving around at night to make sure kids are having fun, the gig Spinnato calls a “labor of love” keeps him busy.
This year, Szivos said, about 70 kids are in attendance, with the majority hailing from towns and cities spanning from Washington, D.C., to Maine.
But some, through partnerships with hospitals such as Shriners Hospitals for Children in Boston, come from as far away as Russia.
Funded entirely through private donations, the camp is one of the only such camps in New England. The next closest one, which operates only in the winter, is three hours away in Portland, Maine.
Szivos estimated the cost per child is about $2,500 for the week, and that about 90 percent of children who are eligible return year after year.
At age 21, some of the repeat campers even decide to become counselors.
Szivos said it’s key to remember that those who survive fires are left with scarring and complications they have to carry with them much, if not all, of their lives.
Although the numbers have been trending downward, fire injuries remain a leading cause of child injury deaths, according to the U.S. Fire Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2013, 321 children age 14 and younger died in fires. In 2010, almost 100,000 children were treated in hospitals and emergency clinics for burn injuries.
“I just think, what if this camp wasn’t there?” Szivos said when asked about the importance of burn camps. “These kids live for this. I think the emotional support they get is priceless.”
Spinnato said the benefit — and the high return rate — applies to the volunteers, too.
A member of the New London Fire Department for 43 years before retiring about three years ago, Spinnato said he’s seen plenty of burnt people and otherwise “gory stuff.”
He's been burnt, too, and, in one fire, broke his leg in five places after falling through an attic.
“It’s part of my life,” Spinnato said of the camp. “As an older guy, it makes your week, your day, your hour. Sure, you get no sleep, just decent food and you’re tired all the time ... but when you see kids with missing arms or legs climbing trees, you say, ‘I can do anything.’"
“It’s made me a better person because I can put life in perspective now,” he said.
Burn camp fundraiser to take place at Stash's Cafe
What: Poker run and pig roast fundraiser for the Arthur C. Luf Children's Burn Camp, a weeklong summer camp in Union that is celebrating its 25th year.
Who: Members of the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation and the Raging Knights Firefighter Motorcycle Club Battalion III are co-hosting the fundraiser.
When: Saturday. Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. Breakfast, the pig roast, live music, raffles and poker are among what is on the slate for the day.
Where: Stash's Café, 95 Pequot Ave., New London
Cost: $25 per rider, $15 per passenger or $20 for those who come without a bike. Cost includes pig roast.
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