There’s a student who is just like you, navigating his way through the campus of nearly 3,200, trying to get to his seat before his teacher marks him tardy.
Senior Caleb Chapman might go unnoticed to many students – he is not the tallest guy on campus, but if you have seen him, you probably have seen his smile. For a part of his life, however, he didn’t have a reason to smile.
“I’ve just always had that thing about me; I always smile. It doesn’t matter what my mom felt like, it doesn’t matter what I thought she felt like. I just felt happy. It’s just a thing that I do.”
Senior Caleb Chapman is a survivor.
Chapman, 18, has won two bouts with rhabdomyosarcoma, a tumor in the muscles attached to the bones.
“I’ve had cancer twice. The first one I got when I was six or seven,” he explained, “I’ve had 11 surgeries and my last surgery was about when I was eleven.”
“I needed that many” continued Chapman, “so that we could try to get my leg to bend farther. A lot of times, it would only bend like 90 degrees and the tissue that [was] developed under the scars [was] resisting my leg to bend any farther.”
Chapman’s surgeries left him with a prosthetic leg. But the loss of his leg doesn’t stop Chapman from making a difference.
For the past six summers, Chapman has been a camper at Arizona Camp Sunrise and Sidekicks, a non-profit summer camp for kids that have experienced cancer and their siblings.
The camp provides an opportunity for kids to have a normal summer camp experience, with the bonus of a 24-hour medical staff on hand. The program serves thousands of kids each year and is equipped with over one hundred adult volunteers.
Camp activities range from horseback riding and fishing to a carnival and the famous Jello war. These activities have kids like Chapman coming back every summer. Chapman commented, “my favorite part of the camp is pretty much just everything. Just like what we do and the activities that all the campers can do.”
Just like a typical summer camp, counselors aid in running the camp. Chapman had the opportunity to be an LIT (leader in training) this past summer. This position is gives kids the opportunity to be with the campers, but also to observe the older counselors and prepare to become counselors themselves. Scores of past campers aspire to become counselors in order to make a difference in the lives of kids like themselves.
Numerous kids have struggled to battle cancer, but many have risen above their challenges to help others in need. Chapman is living proof of this.
Principal Dan Serrano commented, “I’ve seen people with losing a limb do amazing things. And I think they just want to be treated like they’re normal because they are.”
Even with losing his leg, Chapman is ever the optimist on life. His advice rings true in the ears of all who will listen: “ anything can happen, but any difficulty in a situation can be overcome.”