Blues forward Cameron Suafoa has spoken about returning to rugby just months after surgery and radiation treatment for cancer.
Suafoa, 25, came off the reserves bench during the Blues’ 38-11 victory over the Rebels in Melbourne at the weekend.
In November last year he was diagnosed with a high-grade sarcoma in his back. Remarkably, he played two matches for the Blues only months after surgery before being forced to take a break.
Now fatigue-free, he returned against the Rebels and is in line to play for the Blues in the top-of-the-table clash against the Hurricanes at Eden Park on Saturday.
Suafoa today revealed he discovered the diagnosis over the phone. “It was scary at the time,” he said. “I didn’t really know how to deal with it – just because it was over the phone and so sudden.
“A lot of emotions – it was definitely a shock.”
His partner Britt Hastings-Kutty, a physio, told 1News that she asked Suafoa to get checked when she noticed a lump on his back after he bent to pick something off the floor.
Suafoa said he wanted to get back to rugby as soon as possible for “a bit of normality. I just wanted to be treated normally … it was just my way of dealing with it.
“I didn’t want to be stuck at home either.”
Now given the all clear, Suafoa described himself as “ready to go”, with Hastings-Kutty present at Melbourne’s AAMI Park to watch his comeback proper.
“It was definitely nerve racking,” she said of being at the match. “It was a last-minute call up to get up there and I thought ‘why not’. We’ve had a tough last six months or so.
“The level of rugby that it is – it’s no easy feat... I was definitely nervous. I’ve lost my voice, I still haven’t recovered from screaming so much.
“We’ve been through a lot – we’ve been together for seven years and I’m very lucky to have Cam. It’s not the only setback he’s had in his rugby career. He’s had two shoulder surgeries too.”
Suafoa said he had received support from his teammates and that “it wasn’t difficult to tell people [of his diagnosis], it was difficult to explain what was going on because when I was going through it I didn’t really understand it either.
“Physically I feel good – out on the field it’s a bit of a shock to the body because you can forget how fast rugby can be.”
Of Hastings-Kutty, he said: “She’s been the best – always supporting me in every aspect.
“She has reminded me that it’s okay to be not okay in that situation and that you don’t have to be a superhero and try to push through.”
Hastings-Kutty said: “It’s been tough – it hasn’t been easy.
“The effects of radiation, the surgery alone… they’re big things. I don’t think I would have been able to do it, but he’s tough.”
SHARE ME