Former Hendrick Asthma Camp participant enjoys active lifestyle

Earning black belts in martial arts and blowing a trumpet in high school marching band seemed unreasonable expectations when Jeri Sneed was a four-year-old struggling with asthma.

“My mom knew that I had asthma, and so it prevented me in her mind from doing a lot of things that I wanted or would want to do,” said Sneed, who recently graduated from Hardin-Simmons University with a degree in biology.

Sneed credits attending the Hendrick Asthma Camp as a youngster with giving her the skills to manage her asthma and confidence to engage in physical activities.

“When I joined the camp, I was able to learn about asthma, and my mom was able to learn about it too,” said Sneed. “I started being able to do a lot more.”

She now is sharing her insight as a volunteer at this year’s day camp, scheduled for July 29 – 31 at Hardin-Simmons University. Registration for this year’s camp, which is for children ages seven to 12, is closed.

Sneed joined the Hendrick Asthma Camp as soon as she was old enough and participated yearly. When she outgrew the age limit, she continued to volunteer to work with the younger campers.

A lot of times, the campers will listen more to former campers who are counselors in training (CIT) than the adults because they are closer in age and have experience with asthma, said Kelly Couch, a certified respiratory therapist at Hendrick and a camp leader.

“This is a safe place for them because everybody is there with the same issues,” said Couch.

Through the camp, Sneed learned how to prevent asthma from becoming a roadblock in her life. One of the activities at the yearly camp is martial arts demonstrations, which inspired Sneed to take classes at Kuk Sool Won Martial Arts Center. She now is an instructor at the school, leading children and adults, and is in the process of earning her third-degree black belt.

“I love seeing the crazy kid become more focused,” said Sneed. “And, I really love seeing the people that we teach, start to teach others.”

That sentiment is coming full circle with Sneed at this year’s Hendrick Asthma Camp, where she will be one of the martial arts instructors teaching the basics of kicking, blocking and punching. At a previous camp before the pandemic, Sneed taught the campers how to effectively use a spacer inhaler.

Such experiences are valuable to Sneed as she plans to attend medical school and rewarding because of how the camp changed her life.

“I don’t think that I would be doing martial arts, I wouldn’t have done tennis, band or any of that stuff if it hadn’t been for asthma camp,” said Sneed. “It taught me how to be healthy within certain bounds and, eventually, I was able to do what any other kid would do.”

To learn more about future Hendrick Asthma Camps, call Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Hendrick at 325-670-2112 or 325-670-2280.