Lifeguards PaddleDown For Cancer Relay: Newport Beach, CDM
NEWPORT BEACH, CA — Orange County area lifeguards dug deep over the weekend for their part in the annual John Wayne Cancer Foundation's PaddleDown for Cancer Relay. 2020 marks the 8th year of the SoCal PaddleDown, according to the organization.
The relay is 250-miles of ocean paddling, according to organizers. It began over Memorial Day Weekend in Gaviota. Since then, the board, sponsored by the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, has been passed from lifeguard association to lifeguard association, educating about skin cancer prevention and self-screening.
The board arrived in Huntington Beach in late July, then was handed off to Newport Beach. Five lifeguards participated in the paddledown, including Caine Littrell, Blake Bogin, Jose Cueto, Hayden Paul, and Ryan Cook, according to StuNews Newport Beach.
Later, the board made it to Corona Del Mar lifeguards, who then paddled it to Crystal Cove. The board then made its way to Dana Point, then San Clemente, before heading into San Diego County for the end of August.
Ocean lifeguards want all to know as important as it is to wear a mask is to combat coronavirus, wearing a hat and sunscreen is even more important to combat the damaging rays of the sun. Skin cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in the United States, affecting over 3.6 million people annually. That's one in three Californians, according to Lauren Fraga, Senior Program Director of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation.
The PaddleDown relay, a partnership of the cancer foundation and the California Surf Lifesaving Association, hopes to educate beachgoers and ocean enthusiasts on the necessities of sunscreen and the dangers of skin cancer.
"As ocean lifeguards, we spend the majority of our careers in the sun, and we know firsthand the dangers of sun exposure," says Bill Humphreys, president of the association. "Through the SoCal PaddleDown, the John Wayne Cancer Foundation is educating the next generation of lifeguards early in their careers on ways to detect skin cancer and prevent long-term damage."
Join us in the fight against cancer by shopping the new Block the Blaze collection Every purchase supports Block the Blaze and provides children with free hats and sunscreen Link to shop here: https://t.co/dxR9PKZXZf pic.twitter.com/x0K5tl2pAv
— John Wayne (@JoinJohnWayne) August 1, 2020
The program has educated over 100,000 Junior Lifeguards about sun safety and skin cancer, emphasizing skin cancer prevention, and screening. In addition to early detection and recognizing the first signs of skin cancer, the program teaches the Junior Lifeguards how to protect themselves from harmful sun exposure.
For more information, visit: johnwayne.org/blocktheblaze.
This article originally appeared on the Newport Beach-Corona Del Mar Patch
