Doha Wireless Warriors

The Doha Wireless Warriors started 12 years ago in Doha, Qatar after its founder, Sandee Thompson, was recovering from a bilateral mastectomy for a recurrence of breast cancer. What started as a once weekly paddle of survivors and supporters in a rented boat soon turned into three and sometimes seven days a week worth of sessions in our own two boats… Accidentally…. inadvertently….we’ve become a force to be reckoned with in our community. We do a lot of awareness-building workshops and this year, we are given permission to bring children to the beach to paddle! Building awareness that having cancer is not a death sentence is our main goal, all whilst having fun. 

September is Children’s Cancer month and to celebrate the resilience and strength of these ‘little dragons’, Sandee and another key Wireless member, Nivine Nakib, hastily organized a family paddle for the little survivors in our community. Sandee reached out via her social media contacts, the Qatar Cancer Society and through the team’s Instagram (Dww.qa) and Facebook (DohaWirelessWarriors) accounts and Nivine went straight to the source at the children’s hospital she works at. Within a week, we had enough interested families to make this happen and so it did.

The result was 3 boats on the water last Saturday afternoon with lots of volunteers, laughter, smiles and a sense of accomplishment. Parents and their children came to experience paddling and some of our survivors who are in current treatment brought their children to join in the fun! These little cancer survivors paddled for a solid 30 minutes all around the bay, paddling between old wooden dhows and a few naughty jetskiiers.

Three other teams sent representatives to help us out and we borrowed two of their boats and equipment to accommodate everyone and set out at one time. We really are blessed to have such a loving community here in Qatar. The other teams are always willing to join in our events, help us lift our heavy boat into and out of the water, as well as steer or even coach for us when we need extras.

It was such a success that when the weather cools down and breast cancer month is over, we’ll do it again and bring even more children to the boat.

The smiles and sense of ‘I did it!!’ were a joy to behold and to hear. One little girl was carried from her wheelchair to the boat and helped me to count, since she was too small to hold a paddle, while a couple of other children ferociously attacked the water with all the energy and enthusiasm of children with a clean bill of health.

Resilience and joy are key components to healing and getting through a cancer diagnosis and the ‘Wireless’ firmly believe you can build resilience through paddling, laughing and being with like-minded people.

Rule number one?? Have FUN!
Sandee