Surf's Up For Breast Cancer Patient
On the coldest weekend of the year, with the water in the 36-degree range, there's a contest made only for the brave or, as some might say, crazy.
In the waves off Narragansett, R.I. last month, the Eastern Surfing Association held its mid-winter competition.
The insanity ran in all ages, from a ten-year-old girl to a 69-year-old woman.
Among those taking part, Lee "Gidget" Ferrera, of nearby Wakefield, R.I.
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That, Syler points out, is especially true for Ferrera.
Aside from being an excellent surfer, she's a second-degree black-belt, wife, mother of two teenage girls, an emergency room nurse and, is in the midst of a battle against breast cancer.
Ferrera's grandmother died of the disease, her mother survived it, and Ferrera is about halfway through chemotherapy, taking each wave as it comes.
"I had the option of doing treatments over 24 weeks," she says, "or I could do 8 treatments over 16 weeks and I was like, 'Bring it on. Let's get this show on the road and get it over with.' "
Despite Ferrera's illness, she keeps up a pace that would make most women collapse, working twelve-hour shifts in the ER, and as mom to Erica and Elana.
"It's almost like I can't afford not to, to do it," she explains. "It's not so much the money. …It's what's up here (she pointed to her head)."It's the peace of mind. It's the get up and go, it's that indomitable spirit, it's my parents' upbringing," she chuckled.
"It's just excellent to see her so spirited," Erica says, "even when she's just feeling in the pits, you know? I definitely think it's changed some views on life and how to go about things."
Husband jerry just wants her to be happy, saying, "She's doing her surfing and that's her therapy."
"So you understand?" Syuler asked.
"I have to," Jerry responded.
Gidget says her doctor didn't "really recommend" surfing but, "I said, 'I can't help it. I gotta go out there.' "
She adds that it's a chance she's willing to take: "That's what life's about. You have to take chances and risks. I wouldn't get to where I was if I didn't take chances and risks."
Turns out, Gidget won two divisions of the competition.
Her co-workers at the hospital are selling have started making surfboard pins with breast cancer ribbons on them, which they take donations for. The proceeds are going to a breast cancer-related charity they haven't chosen yet.