Time to #GetIntheBoat on Saturday
Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival Aims to Raise $188,000
Although Michelle Thornton had supported the Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival in the past, the first time she sat in a boat on Little Lake as a breast-cancer survivor herself, she had an “a-ha moment.” It was 2015 and she had recently been through the gut-wrenching ordeal of being called back to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) for a a check-up, after a routine mammogram, then being diagnosed with an early form of cancer and undergoing a mastectomy. As she sat in the boat, looking out at the hundreds of supporters on the shores, waving and cheering, and all of the survivors wearing hot-pink garb and all of the volunteers that make this massive annual one-day event happen, she says she finally “connected the dots.” ‘I get it,’ she recalls thinking at the time. ‘It’s only because of all these paddlers, sponsors, volunteers and the community support that we have the kind of modern equipment that diagnosed me early enough that I was able to avoid chemotherapy and radiation.’ The now 54-year-old mother-of-two, who lives in Selwyn Township and is marking her four-year anniversary of being cancer free, says she has since worked even harder to support the festival to ensure all people in the Peterborough area continue to have access to world class breast-cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment at the PRHC through the PRHC Foundation. The festival has raised more than $3.1 million over the past 17 years, providing critical equipment to the PRHC, and is set to be another resounding success on Saturday as 68 community, junior, competitive and breast cancer survivor teams face off on the water. There will also be new attractions including a Family Fun Zone in Del Crary Park as well as food and artisan goods at a market in Del Crary Park. Thornton, chairwoman for the 2018 festival, says this year’s fundraising goal is $188,000, which she says is symbolic as experts predict that one in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetimes. This year’s funds are to be used by the PRHC Foundation to help buy equipment that will help get diagnoses even sooner. The money will help buy new laboratory automation technology that supports efficient processing of tissue and cytological samples, ensuring PRHC lab technologists can provide pathologists with the materials they need to make accurate and quicker diagnoses. PRHC Foundation President and CEO Lesley Heighway said many people might be surprised to know that without the lab, there would be no cancer care at our hospital. “For a cancer patient and their loved ones, two of the hardest things to deal with are waiting and uncertainty,” says Heighway. “Doctors rely on lab results to determine and confirm 100% of cancer diagnoses and treatment decisions so we’re investing in new laboratory automation technology that supports efficient processing of tissue and cytological samples taken during cancer biopsies and surgeries. As a result, lab technologists will be able to provide pathologists with the materials they need to make accurate breast cancer diagnoses even sooner.” “But the impact of the festival’s support won’t end there,” Heighway adds. “Breast is just one of the cancers that this vital piece of technology will be used for. In fact, PRHC’s lab processes more than 20,000 cancer-related cases annually. That number represents thousands of additional people who will benefit from the Festival and its donors’ investment every single year.” Meanwhile Thornton says she thanks the roughly 150 volunteers who will make Saturday’s event possible and says she has found it rewarding to be this year’s chairwoman. “It has been almost like another full-time job,” she says. “But when you see the reaction of people on race day, it makes all of the hard work and long hours worth it.”