Edmonton breast cancer survivors turned dragon boat racers headed to New Zealand
A team of friends and breast cancer survivors are headed to New Zealand in April to represent Edmonton in an international dragon boat racing competition.
The uptake of dragon boating by breast cancer survivors began in Canada in response to previous advice that survivors should avoid upper body exercises to prevent lymphedema. British Columbia experts proved in a clinical study using dragon boating that exercise during and after treatment is more beneficial than harmful.
Edmonton's team – called Breast Friends – was formed in 1998 to join the movement.
The team headed to New Zealand consists of 23 women, while the club has more than 70 members, all of whom survived breast cancer.
Colleen Hemsley learned about the team while receiving treatment.
Unable to walk at the time, she thought joining was impossible – until, one day, it wasn't.
"One of the things that I did when I crawled out of that boat after that first race – out of breath, out of wind, out of energy – I went, 'Yes! I did that!'" she recalled during an interview with CTV News Edmonton.
On Saturday, the team was pressing in the indoor paddle tanks at the Leduc Boat Club.
This year will be the first time the Edmonton women compete in the paddle tanks event.
"What it does is simulate the actual paddling action as if you were in a boat, finding that hard water that you need to find and moving through it," explained club president Shannon Turgeon.
"It's a tough sport. It's an intense sport, but the camaraderie is just phenomenal," teammate Alison McIntyre said. "I love going out to places with these girls. It's just fabulous."
That same sentiment was echoed by Hemsley, who when she found the team, found a support system in and out of the water.
"We are here to support each other, to help each other, because we know the journey that we, ourselves, have gone through. And we know that each and every person has gone through a similar journey."
The 2023 IBCPC Participatory Dragon Boat Festival runs April 10-16. Two hundred and forty teams from 30 countries will compete.
With files from Miriam Valdes-Carletti
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.