Lagan Dragons: The cancer patients who are all in the same boat

About 70% of the Lagan Dragons boat racing team have experienced breast cancer

Every year in the UK about 55,000 women and 400 men are diagnosed with breast cancer.

About 1,500 of them are in Northern Ireland.

Regular exercise can help ease treatment-related side effects and reduce the risk of recurrence.

For some patients - paddling with a dragon boat team not only helps with their physical wellbeing but also their mental health.

The Lagan Dragons are based in Belfast and take their name from the river that flows through the city.

Karen Dougan joined the team just before the first lockdown while recovering from breast cancer.

Soon after, her cancer recurred.

"It came back very rudely in October 2020 - so I had further treatment, further surgery, further radiation," she said.

Training with the Lagan Dragons has been instrumental to her recovery.

'I'd found my tribe'

The Lagan Dragons' captain Karen Case (left) with team member Karen Dougan

"I'm free of the disease, but you're never really comfortable thinking that you'll never get it back again. But I'm fit, I'm healthy, and loving life," Ms Dougan said.

"People in the team know what you're going through and they lift you up and they boost you.

"You can talk about your experience and know that someone understands what you've gone through - they're very positive and enthusiastic.

"I felt I'd found my tribe."

Captain Karen Case was diagnosed with breast cancer more than a decade ago.

She also believes being part of the team helped her recovery.

"It's really about physical, mental and social wellbeing," she said.

"Paddling in dragon boats is obviously quite an old sport and originated in China, but there was a breast surgeon in Canada who recommended it for women who had gone through breast cancer treatment - the repetitive movement and the camaraderie is good for you.

"It's a group of people in a boat - literally in the same boat."

The Lagan Dragons on the water in Belfast

Dragon boat regattas take place around the world and many have a category for breast cancer teams.

Traditionally at the end of competitions, a flower ceremony takes place and some participants place their flowers in the water as a tribute to cancer patients.

"It's really a time of remembering people we've lost through breast cancer," Karen explained

"It's very moving, and very poignant but it's a time to be thankful as well - to be thankful for their lives and to be thankful that we're here honouring those people by living our lives to the full by embracing life and thriving.

"The one thing I want to do is to encourage people to live their best life - to be healthier, be fitter, be stronger and have a good laugh. And to paddle of course."

The Lagan Dragons' head coach, Rachel Reid, is one of the members who does not have breast cancer.

Rachel Reid has been head coach since 2021

A long time rower, she "watched the Dragons from afar" before joining.

"I thought I had some skills that could help them." she said.

"I think they're all absolutely amazing. To go through what they've gone through, and come and start a new life here with the Dragons and a new sport - a lot of them have never done sport at all.

"They're working hard and training and supporting each other."

Ruth Burns, a mother of two young boys, was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, aged 37.

"I'd just started back to work after having my youngest - he was one," she recalled.

"I was still breast feeding him and I just noticed a lump and obviously that's quite common with breast feeding mothers but something didn't sit well with me.

"I was diagnosed about three weeks later."

Cancer patient Ruth Burns said racing makes her a fitter and healthier person

Ruth said paddling with the Dragons was helping her deal with a cancer diagnosis in her 30s.

"It sounds like a strange thing to say but there have been positives and one of those has been the Lagan Dragons.

"It's become the highlight of my week," she said.

"I can't think of all my worries, because you have to focus on keeping time and you have to listen to your instructions, and it's a really good way to force me to be more present.

"If I call here on a Sunday morning for a paddle, there's a few stragglers like myself having coffee and cake, and I can talk about my tablets giving me weird side effects and they get it.

Ruth said it had also helped her focus on life after cancer.

"Obviously it can be a really dark time and a really upsetting time. There's support out there, but if anyone was thinking about dragon boat racing - it's good craic," she said.

"It's put me down a different path to meet these ladies and I might actually be fitter and healthier after this."