Creating Lifelong Bonds at the Alberta Firefighters Burn Camp

Meet Laura Vey, the dedicated Burn Camp Director from the Alberta Firefighters Burn Camp for Children. In this episode Laura shares the incredible journey and mission of the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Society. Hear from Shelley Cormier and her children Tristan and Savannah as they recount how the camp has profoundly transformed their lives. Laura walks us through the camp's empowering activities like high ropes courses and whitewater rafting, while Shelley highlights the remarkable boost in Tristan's self-esteem and emotional health. Tristan and Savannah open up about the strong friendships and invaluable sense of belonging they discovered at the camp.

We also spotlight the tremendous support from the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit at the University of Alberta Hospital and the vital role of the University Hospital Foundation in advancing burn care. You'll hear heartfelt testimonials from families and healthcare professionals, emphasizing the camp’s significant impact. This episode is a tapestry of resilience, community support, and inspiring stories that underline the transformative power of compassion and care.

About Our Guests

Laura Vey is a Registered Nurse on the Edmonton FireFighter's Burn Treatment Unit at the University of Alberta Hospital and Burn Camp Director.

Meet the Cormier Family: Mom Shelley, an inspired yoga and meditation teacher, turned her trauma into a mission to give back. Dad Mac works tirelessly to build their family's dreams, while Tristan, a burn survivor, advocates for self-love and enjoys beatboxing and ninja warrior training. Savannah, full of life and creativity, embraces arts, singing, dancing, and ninja warrior activities despite battling juvenile idiopathic arthritis, uveitis, and glaucoma. Together, they enjoy traveling, living minimally, and giving back to the community, always coming back stronger through life's difficulties and ups and downs. 

What is Give Amplify Connect?

There’s a story behind every action. Give Amplify Connect is a podcast from the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation that gives a voice to the Alberta-based charitable organizations creating community impact, changing lives, and making a difference. Driven by honest conversations with host Kristy Wolfe, it’s a chance for passionate changemakers to share their story.

Learn more at wolfepackwarriors.com

Podcast music used with artist permission
"Okay" by Ellen Braun

Transcript

Savannah Cormier: 0:00

Ever since he's been to burn camp he's been much more happy and feel like he's kind of not left out and the only person in the world who has scars, and I just really really love burn camp for him and it's a great experience for him to have.

Announcement: 0:35

Welcome to Give Amplify Connect, the Wolfe Pack Warriors Foundation podcast that dives deeper into the stories of the charitable organizations in Alberta that are making a difference. Host and producer Kristy Wolfe sits down with the leaders of the nonprofit world to learn more about their purpose, hopes and dreams. Settle in for an honest conversation with Kristy about the impact people are making in their communities and how they keep moving forward.

Kristy Wolfe: 0:58

With me today on the podcast. We have four people, so we are talking about the Alberta Firefighters Burn Camp for Children. Laura Vey is here from the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Society, as well as the Cormier family. So, laura, I'm going to start with you. Will you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Burn Camp?

Laura Vey: 1:17

Absolutely so. Hi everyone, my name is Laura Vey and I am the Burn Camp Director. My longstanding history with the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit. I've worked there now for over 10 years as a registered nurse. At that time I started volunteering at burn camp as a camp nurse and after spending one week experiencing the magic of burn camp I was hooked. I have gone back every year since and we'll say eight years later I took over as the burn camp director.

Laura Vey: 1:48

The Alberta Firefighters Burn Camp for Children is a week-long camp held strategically in the middle of August, right before the school year. Campers travel from across Western and Northern Canada to attend this camp. Doctors, nurses, therapists and others from the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit join local firefighters to volunteer their time as organizers, medical staff and mentors. Campers and volunteers will participate in a variety of challenging outdoor recreational activities and will life-changing experiences. Some of the activities we will partake in include an off-site hiking trip, overnight camping experience, high ropes, obstacle courses with zip line, a 75 foot giant swing, whitewater rafting that's on the kananaskis river actually as well, and one of the highlights of the week include this enormous water fight with the firefighters from Kananaskis Fire, canmore Fire, redwood Meadows Fire, calgary Fire and Edmonton Fire Rescue Services. But camp is not all fun and games. Campers create this valuable network of friends, mentors, and this aids them in their continued recovery as a burn survivor.

Kristy Wolfe: 3:07

Laura, every time you talk I learn something, so thank you for that. Also joining us are the Cormier family, so mom Shelly is here with her kids Tristan and Savannah, and Tristan and Savannah have both been to camp. Shelly, will you introduce yourself, your family, how you got involved with camp, and then we'll get the kids to jump on too.

Shelley Cormier: 3:31

Yeah for sure, my name is Shelley Cormier. Our son, tristan, had a tragic burn accident when he was two and a half years old. He fell into a day-old fire pit which left him with severe burns to his left hand and forearm and his right. So he's needed dozens of surgeries and grafts over the years. So he was able to go to burn camp. When he was of age of eight he was invited to go. He was very hesitant at first, you know wanting to leave from home, and you know from his parents. So when Laura invited Savannah, his sister, to go with him, it kind of gave him that comfort to be able to go. So we're very fortunate for the burn camp. We've noticed a huge difference in his self-confidence into himself and acceptance of his scars. So it's not just the physical burns that get left behind or the scars, but as well as the mental and the emotional health. So Burn Camp gave him a safe haven for him to be himself and to express himself the way he is.

Tristan Cormier: 4:34

Tristan, will you hop on and say hi. Hi, my name is Tristan and I'm a burn survivor and Burn Camp really raised me up to have people kind of like me. They have burns and I know how they feel. In different ways, they have different ways of burns, there's different tragic accidents they had and just such an amazing place to have fun and to make friends.

Kristy Wolfe: 5:03

So, tristan, how many years have you gone to burn camp?

Tristan Cormier: 5:05

now, this is going to be my third year. Third year.

Kristy Wolfe: 5:10

And do you have buddies that go each year Like have you made friends that you get to see only at burn camp?

Tristan Cormier: 5:16

Yes, I well, I actually have one friend and me and him met up once and then, yeah, I do have a friend there, Actually a couple friends. It's not hard to make friends there, it's just such an amazing place.

Kristy Wolfe: 5:35

Well, and I think it's probably pretty exciting to get to see some of the same kids again, but maybe it's also nice to have some new friends each year. It is Okay Now, tristan, your sister's also there. Savannah, I think she's a little bit older, savannah, will you say hi.

Savannah Cormier: 5:50

Hi, my name is Savannah and I'm 12 years old. I'm Tristan's older sister. I went to bird camp with him each year and the first time that I heard he was going to go to burn camp I was quite excited for him. But I knew he would be a little homeslip and when Laura invited me to go with him, I knew the minute he said yes, he would have the greatest time of his life. He has been so such a different person ever since he's been to burn camp. He's been much more happy and feel like he's kind of not left out and the only person in the world who has scars, yeah, and I just really really love burn camp for him and it's a great experience for him to have.

Kristy Wolfe: 6:48

Well, and I'm interested, Savannah, from your perspective too. Had you been to camp before? I've been to juvenile arthritis camp Okay okay, so you'd been to camp, you knew what it was going to be like and could kind of help him with what that was going to feel like.

Savannah Cormier: 7:03

Yes, I don't really get homesick much, so I I knew I would be there for him if he needed it.

Kristy Wolfe: 7:11

I get it. I'm an oldest kid too, so you don't. I think it's different. Yeah, Savannah and Tristan. Either one can answer this. Do you have a favorite part about camp?

Tristan Cormier: 7:24

Honestly, I like the water fight. That's very fun. Last year, or two years ago I think, I got hit by well, not hit, but like the water hit me from the fire hose and I literally like went flying like five feet. I'm like, oh my goodness, oh, that's awesome.

Kristy Wolfe: 7:52

It's just super fun meeting new people there. And then, shelly, what have you noticed about the kids going to camp? Like, I mean, it's a week away for a parent, so I'm feeling that right now, but what else do you notice when your kids maybe come back or leading up to camp?

Shelley Cormier: 8:03

Uh, so the first year there was a lot of anxiety. Uh, you know, just the first time it was every night having to, you know, uh, reassure him that he'll be fine, and so that the first year was a little bit rough. Last year, um, actually the day before camp, I was packing them and I actually suffered a stroke, so I ended up getting hospitalized. So I wasn't able to ship them off like I usually do. They had to come say their goodbyes at the hospital while I was in the eMERGE. However, laura and the team excelled at comforting the kids, allowing them to call me. Every night I had a fireman on standby if they ever needed to come back, for whatever reason.

Shelley Cormier: 8:46

So when we talk about Bern Camp, it's not just a camp, it is a community. We have became quite fond of everybody, you know, through all the events, you know from the golf tournaments and the galas, and it's a family like to me, and it helped me heal as well, because it affects not just Tristan or Savannah, it affects the whole family. And so to have that pillar of a community and yeah, it's quite, it's quite remarkable. So it's definitely has helped everybody, not just the kids. The first year was really nice, you know, to have some time a break. I'm a full-time homeschool mom so I don't get, you know, very much time alone. It was really nice and well last year. Hopefully this year we'll be able to go on a vacation or something.

Kristy Wolfe: 9:36

Well, and I have a question because so a little background about me is I have a kiddo with congenital heart disease, so he's had a number of surgeries and there have been opportunities for camp for him as well, and so far he hasn't wanted to be involved with that. So, tristan and Savannah, I'm just wondering if you have any advice for my kiddo about what it's like to go to camp and whether he should give it a shot.

Savannah Cormier: 10:00

I would say just go for it. It's a. It can really be life-changing. It'll make you feel like you're not the only person with whatever you're going on with, and you'll meet new friends and have fun with things that you will really enjoy.

Tristan Cormier: 10:21

I think honestly like I would. I would just say, yeah, sure I want to go, and because you can make a lot of friends there, have a great time. Yeah, my mom is right. It is a very big family to me, did it?

Kristy Wolfe: 10:39

make a difference for you, knowing that other kids had been burned? Yes, big time. And do you like find that you have different conversations that you don't have with your own family? Yeah, sometimes. Okay, just some questions. I'm going to make him listen to this podcast, so, just so you know Tristan Savannah, I'll let you know what he decides to do about that. But I absolutely agree, as a parent of a kiddo with congenital heart disease, finding community with other families that I can talk to about what we've gone through or what's happening or what's coming up next has been a really important part of my own life. So I absolutely get that from the perspective of just building a community. So, laura, I could see you tearing up a little bit. I'm throwing it out there. This is incredible to hear from the Cormier family and know, like, how much this camp has meant to them, even in the two years that they've been part of it. What did you see from your perspective as the director, how this camp has made the difference in children's lives or their families?

Laura Vey: 11:40

Well, I think it goes without saying if you can imagine the journey of a burn patient to burn survivor.

Laura Vey: 11:50

It's long and it's a painful one Tristan and Savannah and Shelly kind of touched on it. It it is sustained by that confident passion and well, it's unparalleled courage and it is a lifetime of confronting challenges, of of pain, the fear of disfigurement, the fear like there's a lot of fears associated with it and camp you just have that opportunity to heal those emotional, psychological and and well physical trauma that is just equally as painful To me as the burn camp director. It's provided me almost that purpose and meaning in my life, not only professionally but personally as well. I'm in a unique position where a lot of the children who have attended camp I've either treated on the burn unit or have spent several weeks to months with throughout their hospital stay and recovery. So again, I'm in this position where I get to see them from rescue to recovery, but then after that I get to see them through their rehabilitation stage to just being kids again and I think that goes full circle for me.

Kristy Wolfe: 13:16

Yeah, you really get to see everything, and not just as the patient, right, it's about family as well and being there and knowing what's next and just I think I can only imagine what it's like when you get to see those kids. If you haven't got to see them in a while, you show up at camp and it's the excitement.

Laura Vey: 13:33

To see people who have made a difference in their lives is probably pretty gratifying is a challenging part as well, because some of the campers you only see for one year and then camp comes around the next year and you're like, oh my goodness, we have a whole year's worth of of experiences, challenges, life to talk about, um, but then also that life just to, to live within that week and experience that we can let everything else go and just let the camp magic happen.

Kristy Wolfe: 14:13

Shelly, you mentioned in the chat that we have going at the same time that bullying has been an issue. Did you want to speak to that a little bit?

Shelley Cormier: 14:22

I do.

Shelley Cormier: 14:22

You know, I don't know if it's because you know people maybe don't understand or don't know, or it's foreign, but like when Tristan was young, he had to wear, you know, compression garments and he had children try to rip it off, Like it was quite physical at times and the bullying that he sustained.

Shelley Cormier: 14:40

As you know, a young child going through these adversities and you know you talk about, like the scars and the disfigurements and the name calling, and so that was a huge pivot for him, like you know, not even wanting to go to school and we already wanted to homeschool because of our lifestyle.

Shelley Cormier: 14:56

But you know, we did think about putting him into school and it was, it was quite traumatic for him and it was, you know, and still to now. Like he has children that you know we have our communities that are acceptant and they understand and we have to tell them or why this looks different, or why he has these times off from his sports, as you know, adults and as healthcare professionals, to ease the pain of burn survivors, because it is a long journey and I don't think it's a journey that ends like after the surgery, or, you know, when you're an adult, or I've spoken to many, you know, burn survivors and parents, and it's a lifelong traumatic thing that they carry so and bullying is unfortunately part of that. So I just wanted to touch on that as well, because Cap has helped him accept his scars. But it's still, you know, saddening when we meet, you know strangers or people I don't know, and you know they talk about the disfigurement or the scars and it hurts them.

Kristy Wolfe: 16:03

I appreciate you bringing that up. Thank you, tristan. Did you want to say anything? You know not really. Okay.

Laura Vey: 16:11

Honestly.

Kristy Wolfe: 16:13

Yep, I like it. I like it. No, that covered it. Thanks, mom. All right, Laura, back to you. How can other people give, amplify or connect with what Burn Camp is doing?

Laura Vey: 16:23

So Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Society is the primary supporter and organizer of the Alberta Firefighters Burn Camp for Children, so a direct link would be the website, wwwefbtsca, as well as following via Instagram or Facebook any of those social media platforms.

Kristy Wolfe: 16:44

Throughout the summer, the Wolfpack Warriors Foundation will be sharing more information. You can always go to their website and learn more, but we will also be highlighting some of their programs, letting you know more about how you can connect, how you can donate. Just keep your eyes out for posts from us. But, laura, you also wanted to mention a little bit about the connections through the years.

Laura Vey: 17:05

Yeah, so the Alberta Firefighters Burn Camp for Children was originally established in 1988 by the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit, daf. So the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit is located at the University of Alberta Hospital and this unit provides comprehensive burn care to both adults and pediatrics, from the acute phase to the rehabilitation phase. There's really no other unit like it in the University of Alberta Hospital that assumes both care for the pediatric and adult population simultaneously. The unit is comprised of eight funded beds with direct operating room access, as well as a special treatment room. Burn care is provided from a wide geographical area, including northern and western Canada. So that is all the way from Manitoba, saskatchewan, alberta, northern BC and all the northwest territories, and none of it.

Laura Vey: 18:04

Within the walls of the burn unit there is the acute burn clinic and this is a nurse-run clinic with specialty burn care for both pediatric and adult burn patients, and this is an outpatient basis and it actually runs through self-referral, so there is no need to go to the emergency room and or your family physician. If you sustain a burn in the community and you need somebody or a full healthcare team to look at it that specializes in burns, you can just give us a call and I believe there's going to be a link here as well Dr Tredgett. He provides the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit with strong divisional plastic surgery support and a collaborative multidisciplinary team with the intensive care team as well. So the research program is absolutely outstanding and the research initiatives have been recognized internationally on this unit Since then. Over the years Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Society has become the primary supporter and lead organizer for the Alberta Firefighters Burn Camp for Children.

Kristy Wolfe: 19:11

All right, this is a question for every person on this podcast today. I want you to tell me about an organization or a person that you've worked with that inspires you. Shelly, why don't you go first?

Shelley Cormier: 19:25

Yeah, you know, both my children have medically complex needs. So Savannah does have arthritis interesting through the burn the burn unit. So both of them go to the camp. So I think every organization out there that has you know anybody that's donating their time as nurses, doctors, firemen I can't pick one particular person because they are. I know the time and the effort it takes to take away from their home life, their work and to be able to donate that time. So I think all organizations are worthy of the cause, and I think the Byrne Camp especially. They do an amazing job, you know, providing a great experience for them and I know it has impacted both my kids life and so I'll let tristan maybe he's anxious here to share I'm not anxious that that means a good thing.

Shelley Cormier: 20:21

It's not a bad thing, oh okay, so who inspired you that?

Tristan Cormier: 20:25

you just told me that you wanted to tell I don't know honestly, I have a few people, but honestly, Laura and Joni.

Laura Vey: 20:39

Joni is a registered burn nurse on the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit and she has been there for like 34 years and she also attend burn camp every year. She has attended camp for probably well over 16 years.

Kristy Wolfe: 20:58

Okay, laura, will you make sure to pass this along to Joni, please? I will, yes, and Savannah, what about you? Who's a person or an organization that inspires you? And Savannah, what about you? Who's a person or an organization?

Savannah Cormier: 21:10

that inspires you, I would have to say Laura. Laura has been there for a lot of years in Tristan's life, and not only in Tristan's life but also in my life. I want to be a nurse when I grow up and I want to be just like Laura.

Kristy Wolfe: 21:26

Thanks, Savannah. Laura, can you talk right now? Will you be able to tell us who inspires you? Because?

Laura Vey: 21:32

that was pretty heartfelt. My heart is very much filled with love and gratitude. This whole experience just having the opportunity to have camp it just like I said, both the personal and professional impact that it has, it goes without words, All right friends.

Kristy Wolfe: 21:57

Well, I think that is the perfect place to wrap this up. I'm so grateful to learn more about the camp and thank you to the Cormier family for coming on and sharing all of your perspectives about what it's like to go there and why. Laura, thank you for sharing so much about the camp with us. I'm looking forward to having a peek myself this year.

Caroline Thompson: 22:19

Hello everyone, my name is Caroline Thompson and I'm the Director of Philanthropy at the University Hospital Foundation. At the University Hospital Foundation, each year, first responders, health care workers and other volunteers work tirelessly to not only raise the funds needed for the firefighter burn camp but also volunteer their time at this week-long camp. Now you may wonder how or why is the foundation involved in burn camp? Well, the University Hospital Foundation raises funds to advance patient care and innovation. The University Hospital Foundation raises funds to advance patient care and innovation at the University of Alberta Hospital, the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute and the Kaye Edmonton Clinic. And we support the Edmonton Firefighters Burn Treatment Unit at the U of A Hospital which, by the way, is the number one burn unit in Canada, and it's through those doors that many of our future campers will come from.

Kristy Wolfe: 23:14

Thank you for joining us today. The purpose of the Wolfpack Warriors Foundation is to give, amplify and connect. Visit our website wolfepackwarriors. com to learn more about this initiative or connect with us about a registered charity that is important to you. Don't miss the next episode. Follow Give, amplify, connect on your favorite podcast platform to hear from other Alberta-based nonprofits about the work they are doing. On a final note, remember to take care of yourself and your pack.

Announcement: 23:44

Okay, you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. Hush, my darling gonna be okay, You're gonna be okay.