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16-year-old among 60 oncology patients headed to Camp Boggy Creek

Blake Herndon has been in cancer treatment for most of his life. He was diagnosed when he was 7 years old.

“I remember being in the hospital for six months out of the year," the now-16-year-old tells Action News Jax. "Sometimes, I’d be going into the hospital three weeks out of the month.”

Herndon said when he was feeling the worst, he leaned on family, friends and Tom Coughlin’s Jay Fund.

With aid from the organization, Herndon and 59 other oncology patients are headed to Camp Boggy Creek.

“The kids get to be treated like regular kids, but they do have a medical clinic set up," Keli Coughlin, executive director of the Jay Fund, said. "So kids can get their medications that they need, and if anyone has any issues, there is medical staff there that can care for them.”

This is Herndon’s eighth and final summer at the camp.

He said he will miss the experience, but he has something else to celebrate: He’s cancer free.

“Right now, I’ve beat it. So I’m proud about that,” Herndon said.

The campers will spend five days at Camp Boggy Creek and return July 29.