Brave Donegal cancer survivors are to feature prominently in a new RTÉ documentary tonight on dragon boat racing.
Dragon Hearts is an inspiring and emotional film following members of Ireland’s boat racing community.
It will air at 6.30pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
The documentary meets some of the many people who have taken up the sport in recent years, including three from Donegal.
Deborah Bonner and her Donegal Dragons teammates.
Debroah Bonner from Donegal Town founded the Donegal Dragons club. After she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40, she found solace in dragon boat racing and, as there was no club in Donegal at the time, she would travel to Dublin every two weeks to train with Dublin’s Plurabelle Paddlers. It was a four and a half hour journey by bus. So, a nine-hour round trip just so that she could train, all while battling the nausea that came with chemo on the bus on the way up. Eventually she was able to set up a Donegal club, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Síle Nic Suibhne (main pic) from Gaoth Dobhair has been living in Sligo for many years. She speaks in the documentary about the impact dragon boat racing had on her life. Síle joined Sligo club Medb’s Dragon Warriors and shares about how it helped her to rebuild both physical and emotional strength after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Cathal MacSuibhne of the Donegal Dragons.
Cathal Mac Suibhne who hails from Árainn Mhór but has been living in Donegal Town also features in the documentary, and describes how he volunteers his time with the Donegal Dragons, helping to launch the boats into the water, and monitoring them on the water from a health and safety perspective.
From Dublin to Donegal, Sligo to Cork, the documentary meets men and women who have turned adversity into strength, paddling not just for victory but for survival. Dragon Hearts captures their passion, pain, joy and resilience across a full season of training and racing. What sets these paddlers apart from other rowing clubs is that every rower has been touched, directly or indirectly, by the dreaded ‘Big C’.
Dragon boat racing is an ancient Chinese sport with over 2000 years of history, but it is now also one of the fastest-growing water sports worldwide. The sport was trialed by researchers in Canada in the 1990’s as a treatment for breast cancer survivors; the sport was shown to boost upper-body strength in breast cancer patients and survivors and, as a result, to improve their psychological wellbeing and overall medical outcomes.
In Ireland, the first dragon boat club was set up in 2010 in Dublin. Dragon Hearts introduces viewers to members of the Plurabelle Paddlers, who first brought the sport to Ireland. As they battle it out at events around the country, Dragon Hearts chronicles their triumphs and tribulations, capturing moments of joy, pain, loss, and victory as they train tirelessly, compete fiercely, and support one another. Each stroke of the paddle carries meaning, not just in the physical sense, but as a marker of each rower’s individual battle with breast cancer.
Dragon Hearts will air on Monday April 21st, 6:30pm on RTÉ One & RTÉ Player.
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