An annual event that promotes healthy lifestyles for breast cancer survivors is returning to Octagon Pond this summer.

Paddle in Paradise is organized every year by the Avalon Dragons, a dragon boat team made up of breast cancer survivors.

Vice Chair Jodi Rice explains that, while survivors were once advised to limit physical activity, that changed in the mid-2000s when dragon boating was recognized as a beneficial option.

Rice, herself a survivor, calls the team “the support group I didn’t know I needed.” After her surgery, she was unsure how to stay active until she joined the Dragons. She recalls her first practice in the pouring rain and hasn’t looked back since.

Funds raised support the organization’s operations and breast cancer awareness initiatives. This summer, the team will also travel to Calgary for a dragon boat festival and plans to attend an international event in France next year, where over 4,000 survivors are expected.

More information and registration details for this summer’s event are available online.