Tricia Walker's DUC PINK Fundraiser

Hi! My name is Tricia Walker. In January of 2021 I was diagnosed with very early stage breast cancer. I was a single mom closing down my work week when I got the call. Time stopped. The next few months were a blur. I had a job, two young girls who depended on me, and the world was still trying to figure out how to live in a pandemic. It was scary. 

We are told we don't know how strong we are until we face something so incredibily difficult. It's true. I was lucky in that I had options, health insurance, and a support system that saw me through it all. My journey was seven months total, not counting the quarterly check ups.  Even with support, once the surgeries are over, the real healing begins. Cancer changes you in many ways and no matter who you have on your team, it can be hard for friends and family to understand why things seem to be the same but are really very different.

In 2023, I found a group of women who had been on a similar journey. They were finding healthy ways to be in the world and connect with each other through the sport of dragon boating. The diagnosis connects us in ways we never knew we needed to be connected and has created bonds with women I never would have met otherwise. Every Saturday, we meet at White Rock Lake. We gather in a 40 foot canoe and paddle for an hour. We tell stories, we race, we laugh and we experience the stillness, and sometimes not so stillness, of the water and nature. We wear pink. 

This year, we are on a mission to join an even larger group of 4500 survivors in Europe in August of 2026. We represent ourselves, those we've lost, and those who continue on their journey along side us (if they can't be in the boat with us) as we paddle our way to a new way of being. 

Please support me and the other 30+ women on my dragon boat team as we raise money for scholarships, gear, and our participation in the 2026 IBCPC Festival which takes place on the shores of Lac du Bourget, France's largest natural glacial lake. This event raises awareness, spirits, and hope for all breast cancer survivors around the world. I am truly blessed to part of this organization. 

Will you help us reach our goal?