Shave for the Brave News

Empowered to Survive & Thrive

Posted on Jul 26, 2010

KAYAKING CANCER SURVIVORS
Wikipedia defines adventure therapy as "the creation of opportunities to explore the unknown in a safe environment through adventure activities" That's exactly what Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC) team member Mike Lang and his wife Bonnie provide through YACC's Expeditions.

For the second July in a row, a group of young adult cancer survivors kayaked down a remote river in Oregon, meeting and beating physical and mental challenges head on and learning about nature, teamwork, and life as they went.

ALSTON'S STORY
Alston Adams is a young adult cancer survivor who participated in the Expedition last year.  He knew that a positive, life-changing opportunity like this might never come around again and jumped at the chance to join this courageous group. He talks about his experience:

"One thing that stood out for me was the absolute beauty of the environment. 8.5 days with no other humans in sight, in a pristine and remote part of the world, changes your perspective on a lot of things. I now have people across the country that know me and genuinely care about my well-being because of this project. I can reach out to people and tell them that they can accomplish more than they realize."

The most rewarding part of his trip was forging relationships and meeting all challenges successfully, even when they fell out of the boats!

Alston is grateful to Mike & Bonnie, YACC, and all of YACC’s donors and supporters for helping to make this program possible.

"More people need to experience what I have experienced. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to experience more than what they know."