LOCALadk Magazine

44 Winter 2020 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk Cher yl Woll remembers seeing the pea-size bump on her son's calf. Chris was only seven at the time, and their doctor, thinking it was a hematoma, wanted to watch it. But Cher yl's motherly instinct nagged at her, and when they went to have it removed, what should have been a 45-minute procedure turned into a 90 -minute one. Her youngest son had a tumor, and the tissue needed to be sent out for evaluation. For five days the family agonized, only to have their worst fears con- firmed; test results showed that Chris had alveolar rhabdo- myosarcoma, a cancer that forms in skeletal muscle tissue, so rare that initial treatment meant going down to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The progno- sis was grim. Chris under went surger y, radiation therapy, and chemo- therapy. Returning to his home in upstate New York for continuing treatment, he spent much of his time at Albany Medical Center, suffering through rounds of chemo. Cher yl and her husband split their time between Chris and his old- er brother, Jason, never leaving either son without one of them. It was there that an oncologist told them about a new summer camp in Lake Luzerne for ver y sick children, the Dou- ble H Ranch. "I remember thinking that if this was going to be his last summer, let him be a kid," said Cher yl. " We went to an Open House, and I told my husband that if we didn't send him, it would be an injustice." That first summer, Chris came to Double H with his aunt; he had never been away from home before. And so began an almost 34-year relationship between the Woll family and the Ranch that continues to this day, with Cher yl working as part of the year-round staff, and Chris volunteering as one of their doctors—after many years as a counselor—and ser ving on their Medical Advisor y Board. Miracles do happen. Since 1993, Double H Ranch has been providing pro- grams and support, always free of charge, for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. With special of- ferings all year long, they've ser ved over 65,000 campers, bringing joy, laughter, new friendships, and wonderful expe- riences into these children's lives. Summer camp —the most well-known of its programs—runs with eight sessions, and in 2019 saw 937 campers, 219 there for the first time. Although 70% come from New York State, many arrive from 17 other states, with diagnoses that range from cancer and sickle cell anemia to neuromuscular and immune disorders, to name a few. The Ranch's Adaptive Winter Sports Program, Hospital Outreach, and spring and fall family programming continue to grow, and ser ved over 1,200 campers in 2019. Located on the grounds of the former Hidden Valley Ranch, the 320 -acre property now known as the Double H Ranch was purchased by Lockport native, entrepreneur and philanthro- pist Charley Wood in 1991. Described by The Washington Post Double H Ranch By Linda Waxman Finkle

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