Chiefs honour woman's 65-km swim for cancer research groups
By Manori Ravindran, Vancouver Sun July 19, 2012 3:03 AM http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Chiefs+honour+woman+swim+cancer+research+groups/6956923/story.html [cid:image001.png@01CD656B.A1E4E0D0] When Dayna McKay started planning a 19-hour swim to raise money for prostate cancer in 2006, she had no idea how many people would come to support her cause. "To me, it was just a regular swim," she said. "I didn't think it was going to be something this big until it got closer to the actual date, and [I saw] how many people would be touched." The lifeguard, who swam from her northern B.C. community of Port Simpson down to Prince Rupert, said she is the only aboriginal woman to complete a 65-kilometre swim. She was honoured Tuesday by first nations chiefs across the country at the Assembly of First Nations' annual general meeting in Toronto. "I knew the swim would be a big challenge for me because of the [ocean] currents," said McKay in a phone inter-view from Toronto. "But in my heart, I knew I could do it and complete it." The 43-year-old swam from 3 a.m. until 10: 50 p.m. on June 21, taking only occasional one-or two-minute breaks. McKay said she started out with six speedboats surrounding her for security, but by the time she neared Prince Rupert, about 30 boats and hundreds of people were cheering her on. "I was swimming, but I hear every-thing," said McKay, who wore a five-mm-thick wetsuit for the feat. "The songs the kids were singing and the chants really carried me on and motivated me more. That's basically what pushed me, those people out there on their boats." When McKay started training for the swim, she knew she would be raising money for the Richard Wesley Foundation, a Port Simpson-based organization that supports cancer patients who travel for treatment. But when McKay's uncle, Billy Sampson, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, she decided to raise money for that cause and dedicate her swim to him. McKay raised about $10,000 and said she plans to split the funds between the Richard Wesley and BC Cancer foundations. mravind...@vancouversun.com Twitter.com/manniehall [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Native News North List info{all lists}: http://nativenewsonline.org/natnews.htm Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: natnews-north-dig...@yahoogroups.com natnews-north-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: natnews-north-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
