FAIRHOPE, Alabama -- Last month, campers at a church camp stole 11-year-old Fairhope amputee Whitney Hemphill's prosthetic leg while she was showering. The prank left the Fairhope pre-teen stuck in the camp shower and embarrassed. When she got home, she cried and said she didn't ever want to go back to any camp, her mother, Erin Brown, said.

And Brown said she didn't blame her daughter for the reluctance. "She has endured so much pain, ... (been) picked on, laughed at."

But Brown reminded her daughter that attending this week's Amputee Coalition of America camp in Clarksville, Ohio, would be different. "I told her, everyone at this camp is just like you," she said. "I had to convince her to go."

After a little convincing, Whitney decided the camp was a great opportunity. "There will be people there I can talk to, (going through) the same things as me," she said.

The ACA's ongoing Paddy Rossbach Youth Camp seeks to provide children with amputation or limb differences a sense of independence and support, camp director Derrick Stowell said.

According to Stowell, the ACA covers all camp and airfare costs for eligible campers.

Whitney's right foot and part of her lower leg were amputated last year after years of battle with systemic infections, Brown said.

In Whitney's case, doctors concluded she had a better opportunity to be active and live a normal life if they amputated her foot.

"A doctor told us, 'I can reconstruct her foot, but she will be wheelchair bound. If her foot is amputated, she can climb Mount Everest,'" Brown said. "After that, we made up our minds to go ahead with the amputation."

But the positive prognosis didn't make it any easier for Whitney to cope with her new situation.

"It was hard," Brown said. Not only did Whitney have to adjust to life without part of her leg, "we had to go through multiple physical therapists before we could find one who knew how to work with amputees," she said.

"People teased me," Whitney said.

Camp counselor Andre Kajlich, brother of actress Bianca Kajlich and himself a double amputee, said he remembers how difficult it was to adjust to post-amputation life.

Kajlich lost both legs after falling onto a subway track in Prague, Czech Republic, nearly seven years ago.

"One of the most difficult things was not knowing what to expect," he said. "It took a long time to come to terms with (my amputations)."

In the end, independence and acceptance were the keys to his recovery, he said. "Everyone has an idea of what amputees should do," he said, "But you have to come up with your own way."

This camp, Stowell said, gives amputees the chance to discover their unique identity.

"Campers can try anything," Stowell said. "We had a girl who wanted to play tennis but didn't have any arms. I told her, 'why don't you just go try to play?'" She found a way, and later joined the tennis team at her school, he said.

According to Kajlich, amputees at the camp have a special opportunity to form lifelong friendships with one another.

"When I see another amputee," he said, "it makes me feel proud of how much fear and uncertainty we have both overcome."

Whitney agreed with Kajlich. "I want to make new friends," she said, "I want to share my story with others."

Turns out, the Fairhope pre-teen has something else in common with Kajlich.

Kajlich said the feeling of floating in water and swimming was one of the most freeing things he experienced after losing his legs.

And, swimming is one of Whitney's favorite activities.

"I can't wait to get to camp and go swimming," she said.