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 advanced 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.
She opted for a double mastectomy, realising that 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 in as prepared as she could be physically, to heighten her chances of being able to surf often. She surfed through 12 rounds of chemotherapy and remembers her first surf after her surgery incisions had healed vividly.
In this interview we cover:
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.”
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Danielle’s journey is documented on her substack here https://daniellecass.substack.com/
Show host: Caroline Keylock
Show producer: Selma Chalabi
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