Rose Regatta set for Saturday at Lake Las Vegas

A local charity has been bringing survivors together for nearly a decade, turning a daunting challenge into an uplifting endeavor.

The 2016 Rose Regatta Dragon Boat Festival is Saturday, and paddlers from around the world are making their way to Lake Las Vegas to participate.

The Rose Regatta is 250 meters in length with more than 70 teams participating, including paddlers from Canada, California and Arizona.

“We have a couple of really unique teams this year,” said Holly Lyman, director of WomensCare Centers and community outreach for St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. “We also have the most breast cancer teams we’ve ever had so we’re super excited.”

Each team of 20 paddlers pays $1,000 to enter the race. They decorate their 40- to 50-foot-long, flat boats to reflect the team’s spirit and goals. Winners receive gold, silver and bronze medals, along with some fantastic memories and relationships.

The annual event raises funds for St. Rose Dominican’s R.E.D. Rose program, which provides free mammograms, ultrasounds, surgical consultations and assistance with navigating insurance hurdles. It is offered to men and women age 49 and younger who have inadequate health care coverage or are financially struggling.

Last year Dignity Health assisted more than 600 women who don’t have access to health care. Of those, eight women were diagnosed with breast cancer. Their surgeries were provided by St. Rose physicians. Last year the Regatta events raised more than $150,000.

“We are hoping to keep the R.E.D Rose program going and not have to turn anyone away,” Lyman said. “We help pay their bills because you can’t work and get a paycheck when you are going through surgery and sometimes treatment. In order to prevent them from going homeless, we also can pay their rent, utilities, provide groceries for their families. It’s been a really good program for Las Vegas.”

The Dragon Boat Festival started eight years ago when Dignity Health realized it was one of the fastest-growing water sports and a perfect fit for breast cancer survivors.

“A doctor in New Jersey started a dragon boat team for his (survivors) because the motion helps patients recover faster,” Lyman said. “We really wanted women to get that rehabilitation and to keep healthy, so paddling really was a good start. It’s like a floating support group, too, because they are all, literally, in the same boat.”

Terry Maurer, captain of the Pink Paddlers, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. She was conducting activity-based support groups at the time when she was asked to get a crew together for the first Rose Regatta by its host, Dignity Health.

“It gets women out there and see that there is life after cancer,” Maurer, a longtime Nevadan, said. “It’s very physical.”

The activity is recommended for breast cancer survivors because it moves the lymphatic liquid around the body and breaks down debilitating scar tissue.

The training also builds strong relationships.

“We really become a sisterhood,” Maurer said. “We are all in the same boat getting to that finish line. It definitely creates a community. It’s really a beautiful thing.”

Each year, the crew takes laminated photos of women who lost their battle with breast cancer.

“It’s like they are with us that way,” she said. “We form very strong bonds in this group. You need a good support system because you still have checkups each year and recovery from treatments after surgery. It’s really emotionally healing.”

Helping women to take those first steps in getting screened through the R.E.D. Rose program is an added bonus for the passionate paddlers.

Tracey Delgado is a recent recipient of the R.E.D. Rose program. The 48-year-old mother of three was diagnosed in July after waiting a year to have a lump in her breast checked. Lacking insurance as a manager of a local fast-food restaurant, she was at a loss as to how to begin until a friend told her about Dignity Health’s program.

“Within three weeks, I had everything taken care of,” said Delgado, who had a full right mastectomy in August. She worried about leaving behind bills for her children, ages 28, 24 and 19, and a grandchild on the way.

“The people at R.E.D. Rose are helping me with my treatments and my insurance so I don’t have to burden my family. That was really important to me. They pretty much saved my life,” she said.

The race also helps those struggling to survive in other facets of life, including drug addiction. Judge Cedric Kerns has had a dragon boat team for about five years using youths who have filed through his court on drug- and alcohol-related charges.

He learned of the Rose Regatta through one of his clerks who was a breast cancer survivor. He can often be seen at the team’s weekly practice, encouraging them to push through pain and work together.

“It’s been a really good event for the kids in my youth court,” the longtime local judge said. “It’s a win for all. Physical activity is one of those things that gets those endorphins moving, in a good way.”

Last year his team, Children of the Kern, took second place.

“Just the fact that these kids participate does so much for their self-esteem,” Kerns said. “They hated themselves for so long, thought they had no value, hated where they had put themselves, and this puts them in a good place and exposes them to other people who are also surviving.”

The Rose Regatta starts at 8 a.m. The event is open to the public and there is no cost to watch.