Tiny ‘surfer’ buoyed by Cameron’s Quest

As the son of avid surfers, 17-month-old, Cameron Dauria, has spent much of his young life at the beach. Last summer, he spent his days, watching surfers run into the spray, and he reveled in the feel of sand between his toes.
With the help of his dad, Travis, he even tried “surfing” at 6-months-old, and his parents snapped a great photo of their towheaded tot afloat on the Atlantic.
“He is a ball of sunshine,” Travis says of his son. “He’s bubbly and outgoing,” and if you saw him on a good day, you’d never know he is sick.
But Cameron, who lives in Wildwood, is sick.
Two months ago, while spreading lotion on him after a bath, Cameron’s parents felt a troubling lump in his abdomen. An ultrasound soon revealed a parent’s worst nightmare—a cancerous lump, the size of a grapefruit, a Wilms tumor, had enveloped his right kidney and replaced the family’s carefree days at the beach with the endless torment of hospital stays, surgery and chemotherapy.
Now on Wednesdays, the family drives to Dupont Hospital in Delaware for Cameron’s chemotherapy treatments, and they nurse him through the rest of the week with hugs and kisses, shots and medication.
“It’s like being handcuffed in a roller coaster,” Travis says. As a parent, his instinct is to protect his son. “But I can’t step in and make it go away,” he says. “I can’t chase this bully off.”
Medical treatment is expensive, and so is traveling to Delaware every week. Sometimes extended hospital stays mean time off work for Travis or Cameron’s mom, Karen. Together they do what they can, and they lean on family and friends for support.
One of those friends is Britt Wetzel, a surfing buddy and Native sunglass sales rep, who found out about Cameron’s illness earlier this summer and knew he wanted to help.
“Surfers have been a fringe community since the Sixties,” Wetzel says. “We kind of look out for each other.”
And as members of the surfing community found out about Cameron, they were quick to respond. Soon the Cameron’s Quest Surf Competition began to take shape.
Jeff Walden of Ocean Outfitters in Wildwood Crest helped with the initial planning and offered a donation. The National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) quickly jumped on board as well with a sponsorship that includes the nuts and bolts needed to put on a surfing competition.
“They do competitions all the time so they knew what we needed,” Wetzel said.
Wetzel then put out a call to his surfing industry contacts, and they responded with a humbling wave of generosity. Prize donations poured in from local businesses, but also from surf shops from as far away as Long Island.
“I was up in Long Island with two of my customers and asked them if there was anything they wanted to contribute, “ Wetzel said. He admits he didn’t expect much more than a token t-shirt, since the Ahloe Cal Cruz Surf Shop, in Bellmore, N.Y. would seem to have little to gain by contributing to a Wildwood event.
But the owner shocked Wetzel by grabbing a garbage bag and stuffing it with designer surf wear right off the shelves.
Therapy Surf Shop in Shirley, Long Island, then followed suit with the donation of a $600 board.
“The whole community has been really, really supportive,” Wetzel said.
For now, during treatment Cameron can’t be in the sun or near large numbers of people, and he can’t swim in the ocean. But every afternoon when the sun is low and the crowds clear, he looks forward to walking in the sand and building castles.
Someday, Travis plans to get his son back on a surfboard, and when he does, the money raised by the Cameron’s Quest will buoy up other local families in their fight against pediatric cancer.
“We couldn’t do this without the army of friends, family and even total strangers who have gotten behind us,” Travis said. “We can’t fight this war alone.”
Cameron’s Quest on July 17 is shaping up to be a great full-day event for surfers and non-surfers alike. Registration for surfers is 7 a.m., July 17 at North Wildwood’s 12th Ave. surfing beach.
The first heat begins at 8 a.m. with six divisions: Groms 13 and under, Men’s Shortboard, Women’s, Longboard, Master over 30, and a shop challenge with area surf shops competing in teams of four.
Then it’s off to Juan Pablo’s, on Pacific Avenue in Wildwood at 7 p.m., for an after-party and awards banquet with free food and killer drink specials, plus raffles, auctions, giveaways, live music, surf videos and a positive, family vibe.
Prizes include a surf trip to Costa Rica, surfboards, wetsuits, a family ski trip, sports tickets, sunglasses, and lots more.
A $10 donation is suggested for adults, $5 for kids.