Members of the Breast Buddies Dragon Boat Team stopped by Chatham-Kent council chambers recently before heading off to Italy for international competition.
The team of paddling breast cancer survivors was to leave Sunday to compete in the International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission’s Dragon Boat Festival.
The event takes place every four years, and brings teams from around the globe.
For Breast Buddies member Janet Ridgers, this year’s event offered her the trip of a lifetime.
“For the first time in my life I’m going to Europe,” she said. “If I had not been diagnosed with breast cancer and joined this team, I would never in my life have gone to Italy.”
Ridgers and the team attended the festival four years ago in Sarasota, Fla., and eight years ago in Peterborough, Ont.
She said receiving recognition at council June 25 was a moving event.
“Mayor Randy Hope was so choked up. It took him a while to get his voice. He was very emotional. Everyone’s life is affected by cancer,” she said.
Despite the emotions, Ridgers said the event was “a really wonderful moment for this team.”
Following their time with council, the Breast Buddies took to the Thames River for some paddling with the Raging Dragons of Chatham-Kent, another local dragon boat team.
In council chambers, Collette Johanson, the team’s chairperson, addressed council.
“When we are out on the water, whether it is during a practice or a race, our goal is always the same. We want to show survivors everywhere that there is hope. There is strength within each one of us and the power to move beyond a diagnosis of breast cancer and lead active, healthy lifestyles,” she said.
Ridgers added being a Breast Buddy goes way beyond being on a sports team.
“It shows there is a life after breast cancer diagnosis. The team motto is ‘paddle through it,’” she said. “This is a close group of women, a phenomenal group of ladies. We’re just there for each other. It’s like instant sisterhood – family.”
The team was to leave Sunday and fly to Rome. The competition is in Florence for five days, Ridgers said.
Prior to the paddling, she said the team was stopping in Tuscany, and has at least two tours planned to see the sights while in Italy.
The festival will feature more than 100 teams, with more than 4,000 breast cancer survivors on hand.
The breast buddies have been around since 2001.
In a previously published Chatham Voice article, Breast Buddies member Margaret Oxford said the team is comprised of about 40 people.
“Some are shore buddies, women who can no longer paddle, but still support the team,” she said.
Ridgers said she and Oxford actually joined the team the same day, May 22, 2008. Oxford said the camaraderie is quite special.
“They want you in the boat to prevent future cases of breast cancer and they want you in the boat because of the social element and support system,” she said.
“Breast cancer survivors run the risk of developing lymphedema,” Oxford said, referring to a condition that causes the swelling of the arms and legs. The physical workout can help prevent it.
Dr. Don McKenzie, a Canadian sports medicine specialist, started the dragon boat phenomena to give breast cancer survivors an opportunity to gather and enjoy intense upper body workouts together, and provide support to one another. It began in 1996 and has since expanded around the world.
According to McKenzie, “It is an approach to promoting health and raising breast cancer awareness that is driven by women with the disease. It reaches out to other women and offers them a message of hope and support. It is helping to change attitudes toward ‘life after breast cancer,’ and it encourages women to lead full and active lives. It is making a difference.”
Oxford said initially, people were reluctant to encourage breast cancer survivors to tone their upper bodies in fear it would lead to the recurrence of cancer. But studies show that’s just not the case.
