Some interviews change how you think about the world, and this podcast is one of them.
I first found Danielle online because her content on her journey into surfing aged 52 was going viral (she’d been in a film about it and it had screened at the 2022 San Diego Surf Film Festival). A year ago, her content had a significant shift. She’d found out she had aggressive breast cancer, and her first reaction to her team of medical health professionals was a staunch one: I’m going to surf through my treatment.
If you meet Danielle you’ll realise that ‘no’ isn’t a word she would receive lightly. She’s feisty, determined, not least now to make the most of every second of her life. She was already an addicted surfer, having started her journey late. She re-organised much of her life to fit surfing into a busy schedule, even securing a rental property near the beach so that she could spend more time near the water. She’d also cultivated a group of women who would turn up to the water at a moments notice, accosting women in the line-up who looked a similar age or vibe.
Cancer threw in many more curveballs. She opted for a double mastectomy because the recovery would be faster, and she would be more likely to make it back into the water. She trained frequently pre her surgery to ensure that she would be as prepared as she could be physically, to heighten her chances of being able to surf often.
“I would say to myself, "This is how I get stronger. And it reminded me, "I'm gonna get through this. I can do really difficult things. I learned to surf at the age of fucking 52, while managing a busy career and life, I'm gonna get through cancer. It gave me the mental tenacity, the physical stamina, stamina and strength”
She surfed through 12 rounds of chemotherapy. She remembers her first surf after her surgery incisions had healed vividly.
“When I got up on that board and I rode it, it felt incredible. I think cancer can take away so much of your identity. I was so worried that it was going to rob me of everything: my breasts, my hair, my feeling of invincibility, and that first day surfing by myself was the affirmation that I still had everything I needed.”
It’s clear that whilst there were physical benefits of continuing to surf through her treatment, it gave Danielle so much more than that. Physical, mental, emotional benefits, but predominantly, a sense of agency over what is an uncertain process of treatment, a feeling of being in limbo, particularly at the start of the journey.
“When I think about the ways that surfing through chemotherapy helped me with the process, there's just a multitude of physical things that it did for me, and mental. And the mental one is it just reminded me to just accept things that are bigger than you that you have no control over. Because isn't that what surfing is? You can't control the waves. You learn how to work with them. Such a metaphor for cancer.”
Danielle’s journey isn’t over. She’s still waiting to understand her treatment plan from here. But she’s back in the water, and has built up the stamina to undertake three hour sessions. Her hair is growing back, and she has built a network of women across the world who have had similar journeys, and have found inspiration in her story.
It feels untenable, but she credits cancer for many of the good things that have happened in her life:
“As the hard part of the cancer treatment has ended, and I go back into my regular life, I'm really trying to cling to some of the things that I gained: moving slow, taking a deep breath before I respond, just trying to be mindful, and just trying to appreciate how beautiful everything is, and how grateful I am for my body, and all those things that having cancer made me realise were precious.”
This interview isn’t an easy listen (nor should it be). Danielle’s journey has been incredibly hard, and there is so much of it that feels deeply uncomfortable, because none of us like the idea that we can’t be in control. For those of us who have come to these sports later in life, we have found them just at the moment where life feels uncertain, and these sports gave us some measure of certainty, of identity. Having that removed (even temporarily) is frightening in itself.
There’s much to learn in this conversation, but Danielle’s parting message is the one that really stuck with me:
“Don't delay joy. If there's something you want to do, go do it. You can do it, and you never know what the future holds. So do it now. It could give you so much. So don't put off trying new things. You're stronger than you think.”
Enjoy, let me know what you think about the episode, links below. And finally, remember to get those boobs checked.
Caroline x
Board Women Founder
Listen to the full episode on Spotify here and Apple here - or search Board Women on your favourite podcast platform of choice.
You may have seen our recent guest post by Danielle Cass (who writes Danielle rides the cancer wave on Substack), detailing her own story and the story of four other women around the world who have also chosen to prioritise the thing they love (surfing) in the face of the most unimaginable journey to navigate (cancer). If you haven’t - check out their post here - and look out for news on our live panel soon to be hosted with these amazing women.
Danielle’s journey is documented on her substack here
Show host: Caroline Keylock
Show producer: Selma Chalabi
Photo credit for the post: @a_greener_hue on Instagram
