Breast Cancer Survivors Take Boxing Classes In Bridgehampton

On the white walls inside the Gotham Gym in Bridgehampton, in all-caps black letters, is a quote attributed to Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

The group of women who have been gathering for more than a year on Thursday evenings at the boxing gym, discreetly tucked away underneath Compass Realty on Main Street, can relate to that statement, perhaps better than many others who regularly filter in and out of the black ropes surrounding the ring.

On October 24, 10 women, ranging in age from the mid-30s to 83, spread out in the cozy space, some partnering up to spar inside the ring, others just outside working on punching bags. Music pumped through the stereo system, a playlist that was clearly curated just for them: Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” followed by Whitney Houston’s “I’m Every Woman,” then “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child.

The thumping of the bass complemented the sounds of pink boxing gloves striking punching bags and mitts held up by partners, while labored breaths and grunts were broken up by laughter and words of encouragement.

The women are part of a group called Fight Mode, founded by Sag Harbor resident Susie Roden. Surviving breast cancer is the thread that connects them all.

Ms. Roden is the president of the Coalition for Women’s Cancers at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, which provides a support network for women affected by breast and gynecological cancers. She says she was inspired to start the group because of a pattern she saw emerge for women who had beaten the disease.

“Women will come in once they’re done with treatment and seem lost,” she said. “So we do a lot of wellness programs now for breast and gynecological cancer patients — because we’re trying to make survivors into thrivers. We want them to get healthy physically, mentally and spiritually, and to continue the feeling of sisterhood and community.”

Ms. Roden had watched a close friend take private boxing lessons, and said she was “jealous,” because she wanted to do the same but couldn’t afford the price point. That’s when it dawned on her that other women who had gone through the roller-coaster of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery — which she has done twice now — might be interested in boxing as well.

It took some time to get the group off the ground and find enough financial support, but eventually Everlast became a sponsor, providing the pink gloves. The company also features the group on its website, with moving videos that show Ms. Roden and several others from the group reading letters they’d written to their past selves, assuring them they had the strength and courage, mentally and physically, to not only survive, but come out stronger and more empowered than they’d been before their diagnosis.

The group now includes more than 20 women but started out small. Ms. Roden said the fact that the gym is closed to other boxers when the group is in session makes it easier for women who may feel intimidated to enter a boxing gym.

“When we started out, we were nervous wrecks,” Ms. Roden said. “But the gym is closed to just us, so we don’t have to feel uncomfortable or old or fat or insecure. It’s just all of us taking care of each other.”

The spirit of support and inclusion is obvious, and there is perhaps no member who speaks more to that spirit than Ida Annunziata.

The 83-year-old Sag Harbor resident needed three people to help her step through the thick rubber ropes and into the elevated ring when she first started — but now she can make it in on her own. She had a smile on her face, along with delicate dangling earrings and a fresh coat of lipstick, as she held up a pair of boxing mitts for her sparring partner that day.

During a break, she spoke about what the group and the other wellness programs have meant to her.

“They keep me young at heart,” she said, smiling and gesturing to the rest of the group still working away inside the ring.

Ms. Annunziata was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 62, and says she was fortunate because the tumor was detected in the early stages. She had a lumpectomy and recovered, thanks to the support of family and friends.

She retired to the area several years ago, after living in Massapequa most of her life, and said that the friends she’s made through the wellness programs offered through the coalition have been particularly important since the death of her husband two years ago.

“Through breast cancer, I met all these ladies, and we’re very close. We’re like sisters,” she said. “So something good came out of something bad. Losing my husband, if I didn’t have them, I don’t know what I would do.”

In addition to boxing, Ms. Annunziata also regularly participates in water aerobics, and added that she and the other women were treated to makeovers at Macy’s last month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. When asked if that was why she had lipstick on, Ms. Annunziata said she always wears lipstick.

“Who wants to be old?” she asked, with a smile. “Do you know anybody who wants to be old? I don’t.”

Shortly after that, she was back in the ring, following along as their trainer Michael Chavez, in his 20s and off to Marine Corps boot camp shortly, shouted out instructions: “Jab, cross, uppercut, cross, jab, cross, uppercut, cross!”

Mr. Chavez trains all types at Gotham Gym but said he enjoys his time with the Fight Mode group perhaps most of all. His own mother is a breast cancer survivor, and he remembers watching her go through treatment and become a survivor during his late teen years. It’s something he said he had not revealed to the women in the group — but that it added an extra layer of import for him as their trainer.

“These women are strong,” he said. “They’ve overcome a lot of stuff. And it’s a personal thing for me at the same time. Seeing someone you know that has gone through that, it’s a whole different feeling.”

Battling cancer while balancing the responsibilities of motherhood is something Jessica Webb, 45, knows a lot about. She was diagnosed with what she described as “moderately aggressive” Stage 1 cancer, and said she had been vigilant about checking herself because of a family history of breast cancer. She underwent a lumpectomy, and then needed seven weeks of radiation.

During that time, Ms. Webb would wake up, put her 8-year-old daughter on the bus, then drive from her home in Sag Harbor to Riverhead for treatment before heading to her job at C.W. Arborists.

Ms. Webb was working on a punching bag before taking a break to talk about her breast cancer diagnosis and recovery, and watching her, it was clear that she had a significant baseline of strength and power. She said she had taken kickboxing and karate classes before moving to the area, when she worked at a Y in Massachusetts that offered those options. Her daughter also now takes karate.

Despite that, even she admitted to the potential for feeling intimidated to come into Gotham on a regular Saturday morning, but said the closed atmosphere eliminates that problem. She said boxing, and being part of the Fight Mode group, has a specific appeal for someone who has had cancer.

“I think it feels really powerful to be fighting,” she said. “And it’s a really good workout.”

She paused, before adding: “When you have cancer, I feel like nobody really understands what you’re feeling. No matter how wonderful your family is, they don’t get it. Even though we don’t sit here and talk about having cancer, we all had it. So there’s definitely a sisterhood.”

As the session came to a close, the women sat down in a circle in the ring, clapping hands in a rhythm while taking turns chanting or shouting encouragements as they stretched out.

“I am a fighter!” one shouted. “I am a warrior!” was the next cry. “I am invincible!” said another.

Seeing a group of women so diverse in age and background come together and acknowledge what they’ve been through while also celebrating how far they’ve come is what has made Ms. Roden know that the group has accomplished what she’d hoped it would.

“It gives me great satisfaction, because if other women can experience what we’re doing, that’s what it’s all about,” she said. “To see them out there living life really does my heart good.”