Breast Cancer Survivors Conquer Fears

After conquering cancer, “The Joy Luck Club,” a team of breast cancer survivors, took to the waters this past weekend at the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival for the first time in history.
The team, comprised of survivors from the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Chinese Unit, tested their will and courage through two months of training and instruction provided, without charge, by Women In Canoe, an organization dedicated to providing female athletes with the opportunity to dragon boat race competitively around the world.
These fearless women trained every Saturday at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park’s One World Fair Marina, to help them master the art of dragon boat racing.
“It was a very hot day but they did great,” said Ming-Der Chang, executive director of the Chinese Unit of the ACS. “The team may have placed last in their group but they went out there, competed and exercised. In my opinion, they are winners already.”
The team was sponsored by the ACS and HSBC Bank. “Next year, the team will start training earlier and hopefully recruit more sponsors,” added Chang. The team has plans to race again this weekend in a meet in Princeton, New Jersey.
The “Joy Luck Club” team was named after the ACS’s Chinese Unit monthly support group that meets to educate, offer support and help cancer victims in the Chinese community in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.
“For too many women in the Chinese community, a breast cancer diagnosis causes shame and withdrawal,” said Linda Wong, a Joy Luck Club Team member. “No one should die from embarrassment.”
Presently, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the Chinese community.
The ACS says the secret to survival is early detection.
For more information on some of the lifesaving programs and services sponsored by the ACS and the Chinese Unit, please visit www.cancer.org or call 1-800-ACS-2345.
melissa@queenscourier.com