Fundraiser for youth with brain injury is Saturday

WASILLA — Thirteen-year-old Camden Elson sustained a serious brain injury two years ago that has been adversely affecting his daily life.

Elson’s family looked into rehabilitation centers immediately following his release from the hospital, but to no avail. They took him to a facility in Seattle, but the fact was, he wasn’t ready.

“He was still in a fog,” said his mother, Sherrie Elson.

And there weren’t any rehab centers in Alaska for children with brain injuries under age 18.

But Camden was recently accepted into the Kennedy Krieger Spine and Brain Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and will leave May 4 to undergo three months of intense physical therapy. He is currently in the process of re-learning how to speak and walk, and has had many surgeries to straighten out his legs since the accident. He goes to speech therapy three times a week, physical therapy two times a week and occupational therapy once a week.

“He tells us he’s ready for more,” Elson said.

Camden can make sounds via his Dynabox, and is mentally capable of doing things like his math homework. He still attends regular middle school classes.

“He just wants to be able to talk and walk again,” Elson said.

But the coming costs of treatment and plane tickets are a burden on the family. To help alleviate such costs, they are holding a fundraiser at the Eagle River Elks Lodge, beginning at 4 p.m., April 18. The Sterling Silver Band will play live while attendees participate in a silent auction and feast on barbeque pork or brisket. There will also be a bake sale.

Camden will be there, as will his siblings.

“(Caring for him) takes so much of their time and they’ve been so fabulous about it,” Elson said, of her other sons and daughters.

His fellow classmates have also been “very supportive,” she said.

Contact Connie Ditlevson, Camden’s grandmother, at 376-2734 to donate items to the silent auction.