Date published: 4 July 2025
A Mersey Care nurse has battled back from the devastating blow of breast cancer to represent Great Britain in the 17th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Germany later this month.
Sonia Roberts, an advanced nurse practitioner, lives in Wallasey on the Wirral and was diagnosed with the disease in 2021, yet just four years later will be competing in the championships in Brandenburg, Germany, which start on 14 July.
She will compete for Great Britain in the breast cancer boat category, having been selected for the Breast Cancer Survivors’ team, with each member having some experience of the disease, either currently or having been through recovery.
“I’d been for treatment and one of my colleagues sent me a video clip of the team I’m with now, not expecting me to sign up or anything, but it was an inspirational clip. I watched it and immediately wanted to join them,” said Sonia, who works in the Integrated Community Reablement and Assessment Team (ICRAS) to support patients who are at risk of a hospital admissions and those transferring out of hospital needing further care.
“I’d not done any paddling up to that point and it’s amazing what’s happened since I joined them. I wasn’t as fit as I am now strength wise, but I was still active and hit the gym most days. I’ve always worked out to keep myself healthy, but dragon boat racing needs a lot of upper body strength and people don’t realise how much it also exercises your core.”
The team range from Sonia as the youngest at 45 to their eldest member at 77 and quickly became an important source of comfort for her as she went through her recovery.
“As soon as I joined, they became my support group,” added Sonia. “You can talk to your family, your husband and friends but it’s completely different talking to people who have been through it before.
“They’ve become a massive part of my life, and we have a really good social life together as well, we’re always out going to the theatre, and we arrange different events every month or so.”
Sonia’s incredible journey from diagnosis to Germany requires hard work, courage, determination and talent and also requires a financial commitment and she would be grateful for any donations that can help her continue to train at an elite level through her Go Fund Me page.