Leading doctor joins kayak challenge

"It's totally crazy but fun and all for a very worthwhile cause," was the reaction of Stephen Brincat, chairman of the Oncology Department at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, upon confirming that he will be joining the other seven kayakers on the 50 nautical mile Malta-Sicily Kayak Challenge.

The event aims to raise funds towards the setting up of a palliative care unit by the Malta Cancer Foundation.

Kayak For Cancer, a daring challenge scheduled for June 27, will see nine kayakers test their strength and endurance crossing from Marsalforn, Gozo, to Pozzallo, Sicily.

Dr Brincat, who has been kayaking for 13 years now, will be using a locally built fibreglass double kayak that has just been launched.

"No brand name I'm afraid. In fact, it was built by one of my patients and still has some finishing touches to be done," he remarked.

His partner, Sandra Fsadni, will be joining him on the trip which he describes as "a once in a lifetime opportunity and sounds very exciting".

While the other seven kayakers are intensifying their preparation schedule with long training sessions, even by night, Dr Brincat said his workouts for the big day were "nothing like what I had originally hoped to do. My work and the very windy weather we've had over the last few months have seriously dented our training programme.

"I'm depending on the guys of the support fleet to fish us out of the sea when we get exhausted unless we get a miraculous sustained burst of adrenalin," he joked.

The other kayakers in Kayak For Cancer are Gregory Camenzuli, Dorian J. Vassallo, Robert Pullicino, Albert Gambina, Nicholas Valenzia, Joseph Borg and Mark Bugeja.

Meanwhile, billboards are on display in various localities to create more awareness of the event and its main cause, that of raising funds in aid of the Malta Cancer Foundation.

The Malta-Sicily Kayak Challenge is also supported by a pool of sponsors namely GasanMamo Insurance Ltd, Farrugia Investments Ltd, Datatrak plc, Go Sicily Properties, Tower Supermarkets Ltd (Sliema), Virtu Ferries Ltd, and Errea by TuttoSport Ltd.