Slaying her dragons

IT WAS a terrifying yet exhilarating experience for Tynong North resident, Hayley Johnston-Coutts, to know emotionally and physically that she had survived breast cancer.
Paddling down the Yarra River one night with her dragon boat team, a huge storm blew in and the rain was pelting them in the face. They picked up the intensity to try and make it back to shelter. Thunder was rumbling through the city and the lightning was flashing around them.
It was at this point, as the team paddled together, that Hayley began to feel that faint flicker of fire back in her soul.
“The flame had been all but extinguished as a result of my treatment.”
“The further I paddled the stronger the flame grew and so did the grin on my face.
“I was alive; I was stuck in a storm yet so grateful just to be there and able to enjoy it.”
“From that moment on I never looked back.”
Hayley, a Beaconhills College teacher, was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 1993, and then again in 2000. After a mastectomy, two reconstructions and chemotherapy she survived breast cancer, but was then faced with the challenge of reconstructing the rest of her life.
“Chemotherapy had emptied my tank and I was struggling to find anything that would reinvigorate the physical aspects of my life,” she said.
Hayley started dragon boat racing about eight years ago, after hearing that the consistent upper body movement had great benefits for breast cancer survivors after treatment.
She joined Dragons Abreast Australia, specifically the Melbourne team DAMbusters, a national organisation comprised of breast cancer survivors of all ages with different backgrounds, athletic abilities and interests.
Dragon boat racing is an aquatic sport in which a 12-metre long canoe-like boat, wide enough to seat 20 people along with a sweep to steer the boat and a drummer, is paddled over a course of approximately 500 metres in length.
Hayley said that paddling with women who had been through similar experiences showed her that with time her body could be relied upon again.
“Breast cancer caused me to lose that sense of faith in my body, but dragon boat racing showed me that my body was okay and that I could be fit again and a part of something amazing,” she said.
“It is an important part of recovery to see women who have been in the same boat as you and that with time they do become well, both physically and mentally.”
“Healing the emotional side takes a very long time but being surrounded by like-minded people certainly helped me.”
Dragons Abreast Australia is not a support group, but Hayley said the support you receive from just being apart of a team and forming such strong friendships is often enough.
“The friendships developed within the team are very strong,” she said.
“Many women say that they do not want to be involved in a traditional support group.”
“We can speak without saying a word; just a look or a nod is often enough to let someone know that you are there for them.”
While dragon boat racing is a competitive sport, the principles within Dragons Abreast are more focused on participation and inclusiveness. The competitive outcome is secondary, with the women already being winners simple by being there and able to paddle.
“Don’t get me wrong, we all want to win,” Hayley said.
“However, you’re only as fast as your slowest paddler.”
“I love being able to find a seat for every woman on the team, we ensure that no-one gets left behind regardless of their ability.”
“Every woman on the boat is precious; each has her own story, her own journey and her own demons. Paddling just allows us to put it all behind us while we are on the water.”
Since becoming involved in dragon boat racing Hayley has made quite a mark within the organisation. She has coached the DAMbusters for the past four years now and is in her second term as president.
She travelled to Caloundra, Queensland, last year with her mother, also a breast cancer survivor, for the Abreast in Australia dragon boat regatta. There her team was the highest-placed combination team in the world. In March this year, the DAMbusters took home the gold medal at the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival.
Like most aspects of Hayley’s life, her interest in dragon boat racing has become something of a family affair.
Her husband Lawrie and children Livia, 18, and Lewis, 13, have supported Hayley through her diagnosis, treatment and recovery and have now become involved in dragon boating in one way or another.
“Both children have paddled with me socially and they have also been the drummer on occasions,” she said.
While breast cancer shaped every aspect of Hayley’s life once she was diagnosed, she is adamant that it wasn’t all bad.
“Having cancer drove me to achieve many life-long dreams,” she said.
“One of which I will fulfil next year when I travel to Canada to compete in the International Dragon Boat Festival, for breast cancer survivors, with my husband and my Mum.”