Burn survivors go through firefighter training

Several Texas teens are showing us they have no limits by sharing their stories of survival and strength. It's an empowering weekend for burn survivors from across Texas, working side-by-side with firefighters in Austin.

"Oh I think it's great, because it's pretty hard to find a lot of other burn people in public. A lot of them are just scared or worried about being judged by people. I think it's actually pretty cool that we get to meet together, get to know one another, just to hang out and have fun," says Juan Guerra, burn survivor.

This is the first year for Camp Ax to be back up and running.

"These kids have all aged out of camp. At age 16, that's the last year that they're eligible for our pediatric camp. We felt like there was kind of a gap in service. We didn't have anything for the kids that were a little bit older," says Sue Dodson, Texas Burn Survivor Society.

At that point, the Austin Fire Department got involved.
With the help of the Texas Burn Survior Society they put on Camp Ax, giving survivors a chance to go through firefighter training.
They suited up from head to toe.

"How many of us have gotten to go up in the ladder truck? How many of us have gotten to repell off an eight-story building? I never have. So this is really an opportunity for them to see that they don't have limits, that they can do things like that and be successful at it," says Dodson.

The camp honors Austin firefighters Ax Dellert and John Butz who were severely burned in a fatal apartment fire.
The idea for the weekend is to provide support for survivors.

"We can't solve everything in a weekend but sometimes we can give them motivation, inspiration and maybe some coping mechanisms for things they are going through right now," says Dodson.