Reader's Digest, January, 2006 - "Original" honoured by Reader's Digest

North Shore News photo Mike Wakefield

In its January 2006 issue the Reader’s Digest named our own Esther Matsubuchi as one of the magazines six heroes of 2005— a very august group which includes Canadian Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire.

The article relates Esther’s experience first as a breast cancer survivor and then as a member of the original breast cancer dragon boat team of 1996 initiated by Dr. Don McKenzie. The growth of the Abreast In A Boat Society since then into a world wide movement is described as well as the on-going research which continues to illustrate the benefits of upper-body exercise without concern for the development of lymphadema.

Esther’s story has received wide publicity in other media including extensive television and radio coverage, articles in a number of Lower Mainland newspapers as well as an editorial in the Vancouver Sun.

Congratulations, Esther. All the members of Abreast In A Boat are very proud of you and thank you for bringing so much attention to our cause of breast cancer awareness !

2002 - Delta Optimist, May 21st, 2002

Survivors in the same boat: Woman who have overcome breast cancer will be in Deas Island Regatta
by Jessica Holmes

Surviving breast cancer means more than just staying alive for three South Delta dragon boat paddlers. Joanna Hutton, Leslie Ross and Kandi Caplan say their involvement in the False Creek Breast in a Boat team has helped them fully appreciate life. "The gals on the boat have a real zest for living," says Hutton, the team coach. "It just goes to show women living with breast cancer can lead full and active lives." Their team of 18 women living with breast cancer - ranging in age from 30 to 73 - will be one of the 36 teams competing in the women's-only Deas Island Regatta next weekend.

The three women went to high school together in Vancouver and decided to join the dragon boat team together last spring. All having survived traumatic operations, chemotherapy and radiation, the three felt they would be with others "in the same boat" - pun intended - with the sport. "Everybody in the boat knows where you're coming from," Hutton says. "We don't talk about it unless somebody has a reoccurrence." "We mostly talk about where we're going after practice," laughs Caplan, the team stroke leader. "It's a real fun bunch."

Hutton, 58, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2000 after noticing a lump in her breast tissue. "My first reaction was, 'I'm too busy for this,'" says the former school teacher. She had to undergo the partial removal of her lymph nodes and a mastectomy, both within the same month. She lost most of her hair and had to deal with weakness and fatigue through four months of chemotherapy. For Hutton, dragon boat racing added an extra support to her tight network of family and friends. "The boat offers that extra camaraderie," she says.

Ross, 54, discovered she had a lump at a doctor's appointment in the spring of 2000. "I was in total shock," says the team's captain. "I kept thinking they were talking about somebody else." She credits her doctor, Ladner's Dr. Jean Segal, for holding her family together through the lumpectomy and eight weeks of radiation. "I was tired, but I just got on with my life," she says.

Caplan, 53, has had to go through two breast cancer scares in her life. First, at age 36, she had a mastectomy with no treatment. Then, 14 years later, she found another lump while she was showering. "The second time was unbelievable," she says. "I thought I'd already had my turn." Caplan then had to undergo another mastectomy and four months of chemotherapy. Now, the women are on a regular fitness program and practice twice a week in False Creek. They say strength and safety are the team's main concerns with the 500 metre races, but the jokes and back-seat driving make up most the fun of being on the crew. "And," notes Ross, "at the end of the season, your arms look really good in a sleeveless shirt."

The Deas Island Regatta will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 26. Parking will be at a premium so organizers are asking that people car pool or ride bicycles to the event.

2001 - Abreast In A Boat founder to be honoured.

Story published in the Richmond Review October 11, 2001

A local doctor who developed a physical training program for breast cancer survivors will be honoured Friday at Rideau Hall in Ottawa for his work. Dr. Donald Chisholm McKenzie, a University of B.C. sports medicine physician and exercise physiologist, will receive the Meritorious Service Medal for helping initiate and develop the program that has benefited hundreds of breast cancer survivors across the world.

Back in 1996, McKenzie formed and coached the Abreast In A Boat dragon boat paddling team consisting of women who have survived breast cancer. The program demonstrated the benefits of upper body exercise to breast cancer survivors. As much as the fitness regimen may provide physical benefits, the emotional rewards are even greater, McKenzie said. "This isn't about breast cancer. This is about health, fitness and the rest of your life." His initiative resulted in most provinces across Canada fielding a breast cancer dragon boat team, along with many other teams in the United States, Australia and other parts of the world.

As much as he is honoured to receive the award, McKenzie said the credit should also go to the people who have made the program such an international success. "I started it, but I'm a small spoke in the wheel. It's really gone way beyond me. I'm accepting (the award) on behalf of all the women who have put all of their time volunteering into this program."

McKenzie said he still regularly gets phone calls or e-mails from people all around the world who are interested in starting up a breast-cancer survivor team. "It's really gone beyond a small group of people in Vancouver." Thanks to the tremendous corporate sponsorship of the Abreast In A Boat Society, a team of survivors travelled to New Zealand. And next year, McKenzie said, they hope to send a team to Rome.

According to a statement from the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, McKenzie's "remarkable achievements, enhanced by his guidance and caring, have given breast cancer survivors across Canada a sense of confidence and pride, and a lifeline to a better existence." The award recognizes "performance...of a deed or activity in an outstandingly professional manner or of an uncommonly high standard bringing great honour to Canada."

2000 - Media Events