May 2019
Brittle Bone Society #OICAN
A member collecting firewood One group having a rest after canoeing on the lake
Written by Tyler Ridley th
10 May
This May, the Brittle Bone Society met at the Calvert Trust in the Lake District for a #OICAN weekend of fun!
#OICAN is an event organized by the Brittle Bone Society to support people with OI and their families. OI is short for Osteogenesis Imperfecta. People with OI often do not get the opportunity to take part in many outdoor activities. #OICAN aims to give them the chance with the help of the Calvert Trust. #IOCAN On May bank holiday weekend 22 people met in the Lake District for #OICAN. These people came from all over the UK to take part. They took part in different outdoor activities and found that #OICAN. Everyone met on Friday evening and looked around their home for the weekend. They had dinner and found out about what they would be doing. Then they had the opportunity to get to know each other better in the games room. On Saturday morning everyone woke up early and had a full English breakfast.
Having lots of fun canoeing
Activities In the morning everyone was split into two groups. One group went cycling, the other group did bush craft. The group that went cycling all travelled in the minibus. When they arrived, they were given specially-adapted bikes and had a great time riding round the airfield. One 13 -year-old boy with OI said, “I had so much fun!� After lunch the group went rock climbing and on the zipwire. It was great fun and a good opportunity to build strength and confidence. Sunday morning began with canoeing which was great for building team work. Later that day the group took part in some bush craft activities on the side of a mountain. By Monday morning everyone looked exhausted at breakfast time. However, they all agreed that #OICAN!
Wilma wrote a lovely blog post about her time at the event: Ten days before around 30 of us were due to descend from various parts of the country, I started to keep an eye on the weather forecast. After all, if lots of us were maybe going to be trying outdoor activities for the first time, heavy rain or really hot sunny weather might make it more ‘interesting’ - having to wear waterproof gear and buoyancy aids canoeing or special gear to try the zip wire. The forecast initially was cool with a chance of light snow. I’d put away my winter clothes and planned what more summery things I’d take, these things are important after all ...The day before my new assistance dog, known for now as HDL, and I were due to set off a quick check of the forecast now showed snow overnight, during the day and overnight on Saturday so HDL pulled out thermals, warm trousers and fleeces, snow boots and more. Does anyone else take far too much ‘stuff’ when they go away for a couple of days or is it just me? Enough of the weather... Gradually, more and more families started arriving on the Friday afternoon and evening, some had been to conferences or patient days before and had quiet chats, others had never been to anything with the BBS before because they didn’t think they were affected badly enough but dinner was quite a quiet affair as some wondered if they’d be able to try all the different activities or if it might be too much of a fracture risk. Some parents maybe worried if they’d made the right decision, others contemplated the what ifs but the wee ones led the way chatting excitedly about what they were hoping to do: archery, mining, bushcraft (would there be a bushtucker challenge?), canoeing, cycling, climbing, zipwiring, abseiling and so much more?
An early rise on a sunny but chilly Saturday revealed...yes, there was a flurry of snow overnight meaning we all woke up to snow capped hills across Bassenthwaite Lake - a beautiful sight. Sadly, as we all know, unexpected fractures tend to happen just before things we’ve been looking forward to for ages and our weekend was no different meaning a few people had to call off, including Lexie who had a bad fracture just the day before but her mum, Louise and brother came to say hello on
the Sunday and let us know how she was. Get well soon, Lexie and the others. There will, hopefully, be more outdoor activity events in the future. We were split into 2 groups each with our own expert instructors and had the chance to try many different activities over the weekend including bushcraft up in the forest on the slopes of Skiddaw near to the huge nest of, well Rob said it was a giant osprey or a dinosaur - we learned how to safely light fires using a steel and cotton wool, adding moss and dried twigs once the fire took hold and Kelly Kettles meant we had the luxury of hot chocolate, tea, coffee and juice followed by toasted, singed and well-fired marshmallows followed by popcorn with the first batch adding to the flames and charcoal in the fire pit but the next batch was perfect. It’s amazing how hypnotic popping popcorn on an open fire is - just remember to always have the right specialist kit including fire and heatproof long gloves and the specialist popping corn container!đ&#x;˜‰ Adaptive cycling at a windy Watchtree Nature Reserve, an old World War II airfield turned into an interesting nature reserve, on cycles owned by the Calvert Trust was a new experience for many, both adults and children alike, with tricycles, handcyles for wheelchair users, recumbent cycles for little, bigger and big OIers as well as dual cycles where you sit side by side - well done Nicky and Anthea...such a pity the camera didn’t work! It was great to see so many experiment with different types of cycles, some making it all the way round the 3km+ perimeter and around some of the shorter routes crisscrossing the airfield. Some of the youngsters even managed to master or almost master cycling without stabilisers. I hope that everyone who enjoyed this new skill keeps persevering so that we can enjoy an OI Bike Ride the next time we have a get together. After each days’ activities there was the option to wander in the sensory garden, chill in the sensory room, swim in the fully accessible pool, relax upstairs in the clubroom with games of pool, table tennis, board games, tuck shop, a disco (on the Sunday night) or sit quietly in the conservatory room looking over the Lake. Sunday wasn’t so windy meaning that the canoeing on Bassenthwaite Lake could take place. Intrepid adventurers from the youngest to the oldest set off kitted out in waterproofs and buoyancy aids to the CT Boat Shed and private jetty where a quick safety talk was given, 2 sets of Canadian canoes joined by poles to form a very stable canoe catamaran were launched and off paddled the Swallows and Amazons on their very own Lake. Bassenthwaite is the only Lake District Lake with private access solely meaning we had the whole Lake to ourselves. HDL and I went on the safety boat with the obligatory hot chocolate, tea and coffee in flasks (bonfires and boats don’t go together even with expert hands) and were privileged to watch everyone go from feeling slightly anxious at doing yet another new thing to brimming over
with confidence and laughter. Games were played, exciting and scary stories were told, everyone successfully tried to get their paddles to bounce off one of the “thousands of huge springs covering the bottom of the Bayâ€? left after a plane full of them crashed into the bay long ago!! Instructors do tell good tales.đ&#x;˜‰ The other new skills session involved ropework in the indoor climbing wall zone and, for some, whizzing down the zip wire outside. It was amazing to watch the intense concentration on the faces of everyone as we learned what would be happening, safety gear attached with ‘do’s and don’ts’, fears being overcome, friends giving support and encouragement to climb as far up the climbing wall as possible to ‘ding’ the bell at the top. The scariest ‘swing’ I’ve ever seen, took you from floor level up to the highest corner of the arena where you were set free to swing and swoosh back and forth to squeals of terror and delight. Prusicking from ground level up as high as you could go. Abseiling from a great height to the arena floor involved nerves of steel to step off solid ground into fresh air and abseil down was also tested out by the intrepid adventurers. Much cheering as everyone did the best they possibly could. So to sum up the 3 day adventure in the words of those who overcame nerves to try out new things and develop new skills - “it was amazingâ€?, “when is the next oneâ€?, “it’s been a fantastic weekendâ€?, “no archery but I loved itâ€?... Sunday evening saw Coreen and Nicky presenting Achievement Certificates with some little voices disappointed that my assistance dog didn’t get one too as she’d taken part in everything and behaved so well! Don’t worry about her, she had great fun, loved meeting all of you and looks forward to seeing you again soon. The official 2019 Wishbone Day photo was taken for posterity before farewells were said on Monday morning with promises to meet up at the next BBS get together. For me, it was seeing everyone gradually arriving on the Friday, perhaps feeling a little anxious at what was to come, a quiet Friday dinner meeting each other then as the weekend progressed families and friends, old and new, working together, having fun and growing in confidence and by Saturday dinner, much laughter and loud chatter - it was a magical way to spend the 2019 Wishbone Weekend. OICan was never truer. Thanks to everyone at Head Office and the Calvert Trust for organising the event, to sponsors, fundraisers and supporters. Keep a look out for future events and sign up early so as not to be disappointed. Congratulations and love from Wilma and HDLđ&#x;’œďż˝