Eighth Annual NubAbility Sports Camp draws to a close

DU QUOIN - It's pretty safe to say that those participating in this past weekend's eighth annual NubAbility Athletics summer sports camp - from coaches, volunteer workers and staff members to the campers themselves - enjoyed themselves beyond words.

One of the event founders and organizers - Sam Kuhnert - said "amazing" is about the best way he could describe the three-day festivities that featured 185 limb-different children and their siblings and 60-plus coaches, many of which were also limb-different.

"None of this would be possible without our great staff and the support of the Southern Illinois community," Kuhnert said. "We had so many groups and individuals offer their support, so many businesses who sponsored us. I can't begin to thank them all. I also witnessed many individual accomplishments from our campers. And our coaches were overwhelmed with joy watching the kids compete."

Kuhnert said the heat was bothersome at times, but a 10-12 mph breeze helped immensely.

"There weren't too many complaints about the heat," he said. "An we took precautions to ensure the safety of the kids. This was simply a great camp. I couldn't be prouder of everyone,"

Sam's mother, Jana Kuhnert, a co-founder of the organization, agreed with her son that the camp never disappoints and continues to reach new heights.

"For me, this one was the best ever," she said. "There were about a thousand best parts. The fact that there were so many volunteers helping out allowed our staff and coaches to focus 100 percent on the campers. And that made a difference."

Jana said one of the more emotional moments for her was seeing 14-year-old camper Will Walker, a gifted athlete from Savannah, Missouri, who lost an arm due to cancer complications a couple of years ago.

The cancer has returned, but could not keep the young man away from the event.

"It (the cancer) is back for the third time and it's in his lungs now, so he's going through all kinds of research trials (experimental drugs, etc.) in an effort to find a cure," Jana said. "But even though his tumors are still growing, he was here. We were so glad to see him and so inspired by him. He was one of our honorary coaches. On the last day of the camp, everybody in attendance - about 600 of us - all gathered around Will and prayed for him. It was an amazing sight to see."

In this camp to beat all camps, Will's story is but one of 185 special stories.