Austria
In addition to being the National Rep for Germany we have appointed Svenja as Country Liaison to Austria.
As the team numbers grow in Germany, we will be looking to also appoint an additional NR.
Hong Kong
I am a registered nurse. I experienced a big change in 2015 at the age of 50 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer stage 2 with aggressive her2 +ve.
After I finished the treatment of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapy, by chance, I attended the lecture held by the Hong Kong Cancer Fund (the city’s largest cancer support organisation) which introduced dragon boat activities by Dragon Abreast Hong Kong.
Since I like water sports very much, I became interested in it. Besides, I knew that the dragon boat is an exercise that’s good for lymphoedema and good for my recovery. I joined the Dragon Abreast Hong Kong team in 2016, where I met many breast cancer survivors of different conditions, we became teammates and good friends. I am a keen paddler and was elected as chairman on 2020.
It was so amazing and memorable for my team getting the champion in the ‘Dress Up Contest’ in Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival 2017.
We also have chances to participate in international dragon boat races yearly. We have been to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and China. We dream to paddle out of Asia and together in the participatory Dragon Boat Festival in New Zealand 2023.
My team liaises with the Hong Kong Cancer Fund and does regular promotion activities and hopes to recruit more breast cancer survivors every year.
Our mission is to raise awareness of breast cancer in Hong Kong. Encouraging breast cancer survivors to live a full and active life. Hence, to spread positivity and inspirational messages to breast cancer survivors and their families. Remember ‘no one should face cancer alone’.
Thank you for your coordination and arrangement.
Romania
Cosmina Grigore is a mother, wife and breast cancer survivor diagnosed in 2013 at the very young age of just 27.
While working on rewriting her life story after her cancer diagnosis, Cosmina studied and obtained several certifications in nutrition, nutrigenomics, Pilates, mindfulness, coaching and personal development.
She is the first breast cancer patient to become a Patient Coach in Romania and in 2016 she founded Imunis Association. Imunis is dedicated to educating and empowering cancer patients to rewrite their story after cancer.
Cosmina has created some very unique programs in Romania such as “The New Cancer Patient Caravan” for which she was awarded Woman of The Year in 2016 as the project reached over 25 cities in Romania. Titles for programs include: “Womanhood after cancer” or “School for Cancer patients”. She has reached over 2000 patients from Romania and abroad through her work either online or offline.
In 2020 along with Marian Baban - Romanian sprint canoer who won three silver medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships – Cosmina created Imunis Dragons the first dragon boat team for breast cancer survivors in Romania.
Cosmina is also developing a lay version for cancer patients of the clinical guidelines for cancer nutrition for the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN).
She is a coach, a woman with a bold vision who believes in the body’s wisdom, in the power of “#togetherness” and of the community, she cares deeply for the environment and guides patients to become the best version of themselves. She is dedicated to building her legacy after cancer through Imunis programs and showing that prevention matters. She is leading patients through her own lifestyle example proving that, indeed, you can rewrite your story and that emotional balance, sports, nutrition and great lifestyle are core pillars.