The new project of the Bélise Institute in Béziers: a Dragon boat to allow patients to rebuild their lives after their breast cancer

A Dragon boat to mobilize women after their breast cancer surgery. Illustration ML

The Béziers institute is looking for funding for the acquisition of a boat, canoe type, which can accommodate ten to twenty people on board. By paddling, patients who have undergone breast cancer surgery will rehabilitate their upper body while setting themselves a sporting and mental challenge.

"The Dragon boat comes from Canada", explains Bernard Tison, secretary of the Bélise office, the Ouest Languedoc breast institute, an association created 4 years ago in Béziers to better support patients suffering from breast cancer in the region.  Supporting image, the Dragon boat is a kind of canoe that can accommodate 10 to 20 people. The end of the boat is topped with a dragon’s head.

Bernard Tison would like to acquire one of these boats because they are now known as a key tool in the rehabilitation of patients who have been operated on for breast cancer. If Canadians tested and adopted this activity in the stated context, they were then imitated in many countries. "It’is inspired by a Chinese practice. After surgery, it is a matter of strengthening the upper body, the arm, and getting the lymph circulating. This prevents lymphedema. It has been validated therapeutically."

"A psychological issue and a collective challenge"

A film, The Breath of the Dragon (2022) with Julie Gayet, describes very well this adventure of reconstruction after the illness to the rhythm of the paddle strokes. A film partly inspired by the story of Sylvie Maillé, originally from Béziers. The latter also returned at the end of 2023 to the city of Riquet to host a screening-debate of the film organized at the Théâtre des Franciscains by Bélise. "We presented the project to the patients." Around fifty being followed concomitantly. And the project was voted on in the general assembly.

L’Orb, why not Lake Salagou… "There is everything you need here" for navigation aboard the famous Dragon boat, pleads again Bernard Tison. Behind, "there is a personal psychological issue and a real collective challenge. This is the objective of a group of different women marked by the same accident." In case of qualification (for this you have to manage to cover 300 meters in less than 3 minutes), they get a ticket for Venice and its Vogalonga, a rowing race.

The budget that must be raised to carry out this project is 40,000 euros. Bernard Tison would like to be able to work on the boat in a concrete way from September 2024 for operation at the beginning of 2025.

Contact: 04 67 30 05 05 or 06 44 12 90 00. Https ://belise.net
Mail: contact@belise.net

A women's health day

On June 6, will take place on the Rabelais site, à Béziers, a health day of the woman. With the possibility of On-site screening for colorectal cancer, cervical cancer and mammograms. For this free operation, co-organized by B&lise, the CPAM has targeted  women aged 25 à 74 years old, rather far from preventive measures. However, all women who come forward will be accepted. Finally &agrav; note that on September 10, the first of three prevention and response days will take place. "breast cancer screening" with the three priority districts of the city of Béziers, as part of the "City Contract 2024" for which Bélise has just been missioned.