5th Annual Teen Retreat Inspires Hope, Strength and Unity

Episode # 60
Uploaded: July 14, 2011
Running Time: 02:04

CROWN: From the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, this is CLINICAL CENTER RADIO.

We've heard of laughter as medicine, but what about inspiration? This year's 5th Annual Teen Retreat, hosted collaboratively by Clinical Center's Rehabilitation Medicine department and the Children's Inn, was about inspiring hope, strength and unity. Chief of the Recreation Therapy section Donna Gregory explains:

GREGORY: We have a lot of volunteers that come for the 2 days that are survivors themselves who have been cancer patients and are now in college. We have one young adult who is an amputee and he shares his story of being diagnosed at 18. And he's now in med school. So it sends the message to these teenagers, who are wise beyond their years, that there is life after treatment.

CROWN: During this year's Teen Retreat, the events ranged from a pizza party to indoor arts, sports, and a friendly cooking competition.

GREGORY: Having been involved for all 5 years, one of the most rewarding things for me is to watch them meet for the first time on Monday and by Tuesday night, it's as if they've known each other their whole lives.

CROWN: The retreat also included several opportunities for teens like 14-year-old Tristan Hanson from Utah to share their stories of strength.

HANSON: If I hadn't been through what I have been through – I've been through tons of surgeries – I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't be as strong as I am. But what I've gained from this is strength and a better, positive attitude.

CROWN: Bridget Kuzma, a staff member at the Children's Inn who helped with this year's Teen Retreat, says the event can be a source of inspiration...  

KUZMA: Within that small timeframe there really are a lot of tools and sources of inspiration. It just shows the teens that they are a part of something bigger and they are not their illness.

CROWN: From America's Clinical Research Hospital, this has been CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. In Bethesda, Maryland, I'm Ellen Crown, at the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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