14-year-old Brentwood resident Cameron Cohen was dealt a difficult hand one day when, at age 11, he learned his thigh bone was possibly cancerous and that major surgery would be required to remove a tumor.
Thank goodness the surgery was a success; there was no cancer; the tumor was benign. But now Cameron faced many months of recuperation as his leg healed. Like any kid his age, Cameron would much prefer to be out playing sports or going to the mall.
And so, with ample time on his hands, Cameron decided to learn how to program applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch; the iPad did not exist yet. He read books, signed up for iTunesU and wa
tched tutorial videos showing him how.
Cameron wasn’t new to computers, not at all. He’d been programming for years, starting with robotics camp at an early age.
But the iPhone opened up a whole new world – and Cameron dove right in.
His first big production was an app called “iSketch.†Anyone using his or her fingertip can draw pictures right on the screen, employing any number of colors. It’s like a modern-day “Etch a Sketch.â€
Cameron pitched Apple’s App Store on the idea of iSketch, and soon the product took off. Not surprisingly, kids especially like it. To his amazement, adults took to it as well, even for business use. A side benefit was money – as people paid 99 cents for the app, Cameron got his cut.
But this wasn’t about making money. Cameron decided early on to donate a big chunk of the proceeds to help kids recuperating from surgery; he wanted to donate what he could to Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, where he had been treated, so that the hospital could buy devices like iPods and laptops for kids to use while awaiting – and recuperating from – surgery.
“The surgery itself isn’t the hard part,†says Cameron. “It’s waiting for it to happen. You have too much time to think about it.†And then there’s the many months of needing to remain fairly horizontal, post surgery. The pain is very real.
Cameron found that the iPod Touch enabled him to take his mind off things; surely this form of pill-free therapy would work for other kids as well. And not every kid awaiting surgery can afford such a device.
Given the success of iSketch – over $20,000 has been donated to the purchase of electronic devices so far – Cameron has now come up with “AnimalGrams,†a timed game that requires players to unscramble words before time runs out. The animals make it more fun.
He also introduced versions of iSketch and AnimalGrams for the iPad. Cameron has decided to continue to support the hospital, this time by donating a substantial portion of his profits towards oncology research being conducted by Dr. Noah Federman. Dr. Federman is researching treatments for pediatric sarcomas, which are the type of cancer Cameron may have had if his tumor had been malignant.
In addition to programming, Cameron is an eighth grader at Harvard-Westlake where he plays oboe and tennis and enjoys debate. He also likes English and history.
But programming is his first love. He can program in Objective C, PHP, C++, Java and HTML. He favors the Mac platform and is now learning the Linux operating system. He continues to develop new apps (see www.cccdev.com).
Cameron hopes to study computer science in college.
Cameron’s parents, Jeffrey and Lisa Cohen, are probably hoping he’ll sell more apps between now and then to help cover the tuition; right now, Cameron seems more focused on helping kids get through what he went through.
