Meritorious Service Medal

• Awarded on: June 25, 2001
• Invested on: October 12, 2001

Donald Chisholm McKenzie, M.S.M., Richmond, B.C.
Meritorious Service Medal (civil division)

In 1996, Donald McKenzie, a sports medicine physician and exercise physiologist, initiated and developed a physical training program for the benefit of 24 breast cancer survivors. When women living with the disease began to challenge the notion that they should lead physically-restricted lives after surgery, Dr. Mckenzie formed and coached the "Abreast in a Boat" Dragon Boat paddling team consisting entirely of women who have survived breast cancer. Thanks to his initiative, most provinces in Canada now have a breast cancer dragon boat team. His remarkable achievements, enhanced by his guidance and caring, have given breast cancer survivors across Canada a sense of confidence and pride, and a lifeline to a better existence.