Dragon ladies: conquering cancer as a team

Ordinarily, it's the wood shop at Macdonald Drive Junior High School in St. John's, Nfld. But four times a week, it becomes the shipyard of the Avalon Dragon boat builders, 55 Newfoundland women with the sea in their veins and a vision in their hearts. On one particular day last May, three women stood at one end of what looked like a wooden skeleton, staring at a tiny spot on a long, narrow piece of mahogany.

Marie Hyslop, 55, a retired special education teacher, ran her fingers along the wood and said, "This feels like a little tumour here." The women started to laugh as she picked up the hand plane and glided over the little bump. "I've excised the tumour," she declared.

This group is used to lumps and bumps along their way. They are breast cancer survivors who have come together to build and race a magnificent 40-foot dragon boat.

Dragon boating for breast cancer survivors
Dragon boats originated in China more than 2,000 years ago; today it's one of the fastest-growing team sports in the world. After Canadian doctor Don MacKenzie first showed the benefits of repetitive upper body exercise for breast cancer survivors in 1996 and had his patients paddle dragon boats, the sport has been embraced by women recovering from breast cancer. Not only is the exercise great, but the women also benefit emotionally from the camaraderie of being on a team. Today dozens of survivor teams race dragon boats across Canada.

But the Avalon crew is unique: they'll be the first team in North America and only the second in the world to build their own boat.

Building the team to build the boat
Julie Bettney, 56, a former politician and chair of the team, put a call out for paddlers a year ago. Thirty women showed. Today the team includes 55 paddlers from every walk of life who will take turns crewing the 22-person boat. In the future, they hope to have four boats so they can have a regatta.

Julie first enlisted Bruce Whitelaw, master boat builder and naval architect, to help her find a dragon boat. "We were talking about [finding] the boat and Bruce said, 'You know, we could build a boat.' And there was silence in the room," says Julie. "Then we thought about it and realized that this was well-suited to Newfoundland, this opportunity to build a boat as our ancestors have done for hundreds of years."

Bruce drew up the plans, and the women hit the shop floor. Under Bruce's patient guidance, the women get together four times a week. Start to finish, he estimates it will take 1,000 woman hours to build the boat.

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Some of the boat builders look like they are headed for a night on the town, not about to be sprinkled with sawdust. Retired school teacher Sylvia Flood is 63, and she wears gold hoop earrings and lipstick as she wields a router in one hand and safety glasses in the other. She's had cancer beaten for 14 years.

"To think that at this stage of our lives we are not only going to paddle our own boat, but we are going to build it," she says with a big grin. "It is going to have far more meaning to us to know that we can go around and brag that we are building our boat, step by step."

New opportunities for a fresh start
Retired physiotherapist Jane Brown, 63, is intrigued by angles and movement. She touches the top of the wooden structure and explains: "We planed the edge so precisely that it's the correct angle. My father built some small sailboats recreationally, and boat building is probably in my blood, being a Newfoundlander, but I never thought for a moment this opportunity would arise."

Most of the women had never handled a power tool. "I used a jigsaw for the first time and I hope that the part I did doesn't cause the boat to sink," says Dolores Hynes, 42, an ovarian cancer survivor who asked to be included in the team. Dolores was working in Ottawa as a project manager for the government when she was diagnosed four years ago.

A job for every skill set
Another woman discovered she could transfer her sewing skills to the shop. "Taking measurements for sewing is like boat building: if you're precise with one, you're precise with the other, and that accuracy is reflected in the end product," says Donna Howell, 51, who has glasses and curly brown hair. She had breast cancer in 2003 and discovered in 2005 that it had metastasized to the bone. She is tested regularly now. "I live life in three-month intervals and make the most of everything I can in those three months," she says.

Donna's latest tests showed that the cancer had returned, and she went back on chemotherapy. She still comes to the shop to build, though not as often, and wearing a head scarf. "You can do things," she says. "You have to take the initiative and take your life in your hands and make the most of every minute. You have to make every moment count."

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The lovingly hand-planed piece of mahogany is the keel of the boat. It runs the entire length from bow to stern and gives the boat its strength and stability. "We all decided we would etch our names in the keel so that they will be there forevermore for people to see – but mostly for ourselves," says Julie.

Their boat became more than just a piece of wood. "I think the positive of building the boat is being together with so many breast cancer survivors," says Sylvia. "We are not thinking about our chronic illness. We're having fun and we are experiencing another new challenge in our life, and that is what life is all about. This boat means there is life beyond cancer."

On your marks, get set...
This month the Avalon Dragon builders will gather to launch their boat. But some of the team have been thinking for months about the day their creation first hits the water. "I will take a breath," says Jane as tears well up in her eyes. "I will think of family who have rowed, and I will think this is wonderful."

Will this boat have heart? Ask lead hand Bruce, who has built many boats in his career. "Nobody touches these boat builders, not a chance," he says with pride. "This is an unbelievably nice group of hearts to be working with."

And these seasoned boat builders have no doubt that their vessel is going to float in the water as if it were magic and had wings. How could it not? It was built with such heart and soul, and tender loving care.

Dragon racers across Canada
In 1996 the first survivor dragon boat team was named Abreast in a Boat. Today there are dozens of breast cancer teams across Canada with names as different as the regions of Canada they hail from. Some are geographical, like Abreast in the Rockies, NorthBreast Passage and Cape Breastoners. Some crack you up, like Chemo Savvy, Breast Buddies and 'tit Bateau. Some names inspire, such as Hope Afloat, Paddling for Life and Warriors of Hope. The team names may be different, but one thing is for sure: these women are all in the same boat together. They are alive and living each moment to its fullest.

Find inspiration from more outstanding women with Shared Stories and Personal Growth from our Life & Balance section.

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