Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Cancer survivors
show dragon spirit
Pink Phoenix paddlers who won
By Rosemarie Bernardo
a race against cancer hope
to inspire others
Star-BulletinWHEN Nancy Heitz was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago, she immediately thought her life was over. "I'm going to die," was the thought running through her mind.
Now fully recovered, Heitz, 50, doesn't take anything for granted and lives each day to the fullest. She'll be one of four members of the Pink Phoenix team helping the Stumptown Paddlers defend their 1st place international title at the 5th Annual AT&T Hawaii Dragon Boat Festival races this weekend.
The team's fighting spirit and willingness to challenge nature's odds reflect the traditional spirit of the races.
Dragon-boat racing began in China 2,000 years ago when superstitious farmers believed the boats would ensure prosperity. Their celebrations took place during summer, a time when they felt most helpless against nature's formidable and destructive heat and monsoons.
AT THE BEACH
What: AT&T Hawaii Dragon Boat Festival with entertainment by Avant, JB, M.O.H. and DisGuyz Saturday and Ten Feet, Three Plus, O'Shen, Typical Hawaiians, Marty Dread, Kale Imua, Hawaiian Time and more Sunday; plus food and craft booths both days
Neither team hails from the land of the dragon boat's origin, meeting instead in an unlikely place, the Willamette River in Portland, Ore., where they practice in 48- to 55-degree water. Dragon-boat races started by the Portland-Kao Hsiung Sister Assn. have been a regular part of the city's annual Rose Festival since 1988.
The Pink Phoenix paddlers are all breast-cancer survivors who are celebrating their new-found zest for life. They paddle, not only because they enjoy it, but because it gives them the opportunity to inspire others who may be battling illness.
"Our mere presence can change a woman's life. There is quality life after breast cancer, said Heitz, who was recently awarded the Kellogg's Making a Difference Award for her volunteerism and breast cancer awareness efforts.
Last year, when members from The Stumptown Paddlers -- comprising more than 20 men and women between the ages 22 to 79 -- needed a few women to paddle in the dragon-boat race, Heitz and teammate Carolyn Stewart jumped at the chance."I never had so much fun paddling," Heitz said of dragon-boat racing. "They don't treat us like these poor cancer survivors; they treat us like every other paddler."
Heitz discovered she had breast cancer in September 1995 when her annual mammogram turned up a lump the size of a pencil eraser in her right breast.
"Overall, you feel totally lost, separated from the world."
Heitz recovered after undergoing a mastectomy. Since then, she's started working fewer hours at her job as a Wells Fargo lending manager, walking regularly and paddling three times a week.
Stewart found a lump in her left breast in a self-examination in March 1995. Soon after, she went to Providence Medical Center in Portland, Ore., where she underwent a biopsy and a mastectomy.
Following her surgery was six months of chemotherapy and she felt fatigued, but said, "It didn't stop me from anything." Instead, she took charge of more aspects of her life, starting with becoming a strict vegetarian.
Now 54, Stewart is fully recovered, but visits her doctor annually for checkups. She joined Pink Phoenix four years ago, and since then, has lost four teammates to breast cancer. "It makes you value your life and appreciate every day."
She and her husband own a condominium here, and she said part of enjoying life is visiting Hawaii as often as she can.
Click for online
calendars and events.
