Latest / Rugby Direct / Rugby Direct Episode 246: Cameron Suafoa on rugby, life and his terminal cancer diagnosis

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Rugby Direct Episode 246: Cameron Suafoa on rugby, life and his terminal cancer diagnosis · Rugby Direct

0:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
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Speaker 2: Straight Down the Middle of Trunk Guy, try to.
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Speaker 1: Get inside the game from Every end Goal. It's Rugby
0:33
Speaker 1: Direct with Elliott Smith and Liam Napier powered by News
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Speaker 1: Talks EDB.
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Speaker 2: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Access Solutions elevation you
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Speaker 2: and your business to a higher level. A special guest
0:45
Speaker 2: on Rugby Direct today former Blues forward Cameron saw Forward,
0:49
Speaker 2: joining myself and Liam on the podcast. You might know
0:53
Speaker 2: Cameron's story. He announced earlier this year that he had
0:56
Speaker 2: been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was first diagnosed in
1:01
Speaker 2: November of twenty twenty three with the high grade star coma.
1:04
Speaker 2: You underwent six weeks of radiation treatment, which also included
1:07
Speaker 2: him playing before taking a break. He got back out
1:09
Speaker 2: onto the rugby field, made the Moldy All Blacks, secured
1:13
Speaker 2: a spot back in the Blues, but then was diagnosed
1:16
Speaker 2: with cancer again. He now inst earlier in the year
1:19
Speaker 2: that it was terminal. He continues to fight. He continues
1:22
Speaker 2: to raise awareness for sarcoma. He is doing an incredible
1:27
Speaker 2: job at doing just that, and it was great to
1:31
Speaker 2: have him and his wife Brits in the studio to
1:34
Speaker 2: lovely human beings. We hope that you can take something
1:37
Speaker 2: out of this chat with Cam. He is an inspiring
1:40
Speaker 2: human being and without any further ado, Cameron saw four
1:43
Speaker 2: here on Rugby Directs.
1:45
Speaker 1: Rugby direct with Elliott Smith and Liam Navier, powered by
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Speaker 1: News Talk zeb Here every All Blacks game live and
1:53
Speaker 1: free on air and on iHeartRadio.
1:56
Speaker 2: Camp Store four. Welcome into Rugby Directs. So grateful that
2:00
Speaker 2: you've you've come in and joined us on the podcast.
2:05
Speaker 2: We'll get into some discussion, but we're speaking on the
2:09
Speaker 2: weekend after Anton Signa made his debut. Your Blues teammates
2:13
Speaker 2: must have been pretty special to see him make his
2:16
Speaker 2: all black Staville of the over the weekend against Italy.
2:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was unreal to see him right out there,
2:20
Speaker 3: especially in front of his family as well. He flew
2:23
Speaker 3: all the way over from Germany, so yeah, stoked as
2:25
Speaker 3: for him, and then yeah, he played pretty well to.
2:27
Speaker 2: Pretty crazy story. Isn't it to beck yourself to come
2:30
Speaker 2: over from Germany and then becoming all black?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's probably probably something not many people would have
2:37
Speaker 3: would have done, especially I guess in his position where
2:39
Speaker 3: rugby isn't the biggest sport over there. So no, it's
2:42
Speaker 3: a pretty amazing journey to witness.
2:45
Speaker 2: Your rugby career. When did you start stop playing rugby?
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Speaker 3: I was probably pretty late in terms of my other people.
2:54
Speaker 3: I grew up playing rugby league. Actually yeah, my whole
2:57
Speaker 3: my whole family. They are league supporters as a league household.
3:01
Speaker 3: But probably started when I was fourteen or fifteen, which
3:06
Speaker 3: is relatively late, I.
3:07
Speaker 2: Guess started getting into rip teams and things like that.
3:12
Speaker 3: Yes or no. Probably the first year I played I
3:15
Speaker 3: was fourteen. I didn't make anything other than the fourteenth
3:18
Speaker 3: for school, so I sawt stuffter this, I'll go back
3:21
Speaker 3: to league, no good at rugby, and then eventually came back,
3:27
Speaker 3: got convinced to come back. And you have played first
3:29
Speaker 3: with them and then in my last years made the
3:32
Speaker 3: Barbarians team and then academies after that.
3:35
Speaker 2: So yeah, ain't got the nod for North Harbor at
3:38
Speaker 2: some point all the way.
3:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, originally I was at Auckland for a few years. Ye,
3:43
Speaker 3: So I did academy there, played one game for the
3:47
Speaker 3: NPC side and got injured and then moved down to Tasman.
3:53
Speaker 3: You have played one game there and then moved back
3:55
Speaker 3: up there and then eventually ended and ended up at
3:59
Speaker 3: North Harbor.
3:59
Speaker 2: Nice.
4:00
Speaker 4: So yeah, what do you make the switch between the
4:03
Speaker 4: league and union.
4:07
Speaker 3: I went and watched a game of league and I'm sorry.
4:12
Speaker 3: My uncle took me to a game of league club
4:15
Speaker 3: footy and there was about five people there and then
4:18
Speaker 3: he said all right. And then there was a game
4:20
Speaker 3: against Saint Peter's Saint Kent's for fresh with me, and
4:24
Speaker 3: then I went to that game and then there was
4:25
Speaker 3: about two thousand people there and I was like, oh,
4:28
Speaker 3: this is not too bad. So I thought I'd give
4:30
Speaker 3: a rugby a crack.
4:31
Speaker 4: So, yeah, you've always been a lot close forward than rugby.
4:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, there was a lot all the way in school.
4:40
Speaker 3: I wasn't until I left school. Then I started transitioning
4:42
Speaker 3: out to the I guess the loose.
4:44
Speaker 4: Wards and any other sports. Basketball.
4:48
Speaker 3: I tried to. Tried a few basketball, badminton, yeah, league
4:54
Speaker 3: in the summer, touch tag. So yeah, I had a
4:58
Speaker 3: crack at everything. Really, I tried to.
5:01
Speaker 2: And when did the nod from the Blues come that
5:03
Speaker 2: you got the selection to Super Rugby.
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Speaker 3: U twenty twenty one was my first year of the organization.
5:11
Speaker 2: Heckle was that.
5:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was dream come true or something, especially being
5:16
Speaker 3: from Auckland. It was a team that I followed heavily,
5:19
Speaker 3: alongside the Warriors as well. So yeah, definitely a dream
5:23
Speaker 3: come true to be part of something like that, and
5:26
Speaker 3: then was lucky enough to play for them for a
5:29
Speaker 3: few years too.
5:30
Speaker 4: Who were some of the superstars. I guess you know
5:32
Speaker 4: there's some of the rock stars of the Blues when
5:35
Speaker 4: you were young watching them play.
5:39
Speaker 3: Uh, well, yeah, heaps giving me a lamu during kind
5:42
Speaker 3: of probably the ones that I followed the most. And
5:46
Speaker 3: then once I started, I guess playing a bit more,
5:49
Speaker 3: people like the Juani Brothers and things like that.
5:52
Speaker 4: So yeah, and then when you make the team, rubbing
5:55
Speaker 4: shoulders with some of those guys's pretty cool.
5:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was something I probably wasn't thinking about earlier.
6:03
Speaker 3: But to be able to be in the same I
6:05
Speaker 3: guess she toled those guys and rob shoulders with them
6:07
Speaker 3: has been Yeah, I drink and true.
6:09
Speaker 4: Was there always a dream to a desire that you
6:13
Speaker 4: chase to be a professional ethnic professional rugby player.
6:19
Speaker 3: Probably not a professional rugby player. I probably what I
6:24
Speaker 3: wanted to play for the Warriors growing up as a
6:27
Speaker 3: young kid watching them, But then yeah, once you know,
6:32
Speaker 3: playing with my mates and school and stuff like that,
6:34
Speaker 3: and seeing that I could make this, maybe make this
6:39
Speaker 3: a career out of this. So I probably wasn't until
6:41
Speaker 3: the later years that I really think I could.
6:44
Speaker 4: Actually do it and still follow the Warriors now oh yeah, definitely, Yeah,
6:48
Speaker 4: still follow them heavily, so not just on the band
6:51
Speaker 4: way like everyone else.
6:54
Speaker 3: Definitely what did you learn.
6:56
Speaker 2: About I guess professional rugby and playing those you know,
6:59
Speaker 2: those seasons for the Blues. Once you got on the
7:00
Speaker 2: camp in twenty twenty one, what was it the big
7:02
Speaker 2: lessons about playing professional sport?
7:05
Speaker 3: The biggest lesson was probably as a harsh lesson. I
7:11
Speaker 3: guess it's like how unprepared I was for it, not
7:14
Speaker 3: only physically, but how mentally joining it could be. I
7:19
Speaker 3: had to learn that early on, but I had heaps
7:22
Speaker 3: of people to learn from that helped me out along
7:23
Speaker 3: the journey, so that made it a little bit easier.
7:26
Speaker 3: But probably just yeah, not only the physical load.
7:30
Speaker 2: But the mental load backing up week and week out,
7:32
Speaker 2: and yeah, and sometimes.
7:34
Speaker 3: It can be tough, obviously if it's your first year
7:37
Speaker 3: and you're not playing that much and just trying to
7:41
Speaker 3: stay motivated to you know, still be a good teammate,
7:44
Speaker 3: still provide something towards the team. Yeah, that was probably
7:48
Speaker 3: the biggest lesson.
7:49
Speaker 2: And obviously the Blues begin to rise over those years
7:52
Speaker 2: as well, and culminates in a championship and a couple
7:55
Speaker 2: of years ago, which must have been a pretty special
7:57
Speaker 2: road to be on.
7:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is. It is something to be happy to
8:03
Speaker 3: be a part of something special like that. It's pretty cool.
8:07
Speaker 3: You don't really know it's until I guess post the
8:11
Speaker 3: championship and things like that, but just the journey to
8:15
Speaker 3: I guess, come from generally the bottom of the table
8:18
Speaker 3: to you know, to take it out. It has been unreal.
8:23
Speaker 4: And having grown up in Auckland and I guess watched
8:26
Speaker 4: the Blues not do so well to bring success to
8:30
Speaker 4: the region, what's been pretty special.
8:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's something I'm pretty grateful to be a part
8:37
Speaker 3: of and to do with some of my closest mates too. Yeah,
8:42
Speaker 3: it's been unreal.
8:44
Speaker 2: As part of that, obviously, in twenty twenty four, the
8:46
Speaker 2: news comes out that you've got sarcoma. Just took us
8:49
Speaker 2: through how that played out, how you noticed something was
8:54
Speaker 2: wrong because Bretton the studio is a physio, I know that,
8:57
Speaker 2: and she was obviously spotted something wasn't right.
9:00
Speaker 3: What happened, I was actually during a PC. I had
9:05
Speaker 3: come home from a game and we were just I'm
9:08
Speaker 3: eating dinner and I just went to pick up something
9:11
Speaker 3: off the ground and that's when she noticed there was
9:13
Speaker 3: a lump through my shirt. And I wasn't too sure
9:18
Speaker 3: what it was. I just thought it was just from rugby,
9:22
Speaker 3: just you know, bumps and bruises, because I always come
9:24
Speaker 3: home with like scratches and stuff. So I didn't think
9:26
Speaker 3: too much of it. And then, yeah, it wasn't until
9:32
Speaker 3: I went and got it checked out from the medical stuff.
9:36
Speaker 3: They didn't think much too much of it either, so
9:39
Speaker 3: I pretty much brushed it for the for that season anyway.
9:43
Speaker 3: And then it wasn't until I was getting ready for
9:45
Speaker 3: the Blues pre season. Some of the medical stuff happened
9:50
Speaker 3: to be in the same time I was in there
9:51
Speaker 3: at the gym, and then I just ye went in
9:53
Speaker 3: and asked them and asked him to check it out too,
9:56
Speaker 3: and then that's when they, yeah, pulled it up as
10:00
Speaker 3: a bit of a red flag. And then that's when
10:02
Speaker 3: I started getting all the tests blood tests in myries
10:05
Speaker 3: and things like that after.
10:06
Speaker 2: So, yeah, because it's the rea redcancer, isn't it. So
10:10
Speaker 2: you didn't have any other symptoms or anything like that
10:12
Speaker 2: other than what was showing anybody, No.
10:15
Speaker 3: No other symptoms. It wasn't painful to touch, or I
10:19
Speaker 3: wasn't sore when I was being over or anything like that.
10:22
Speaker 3: So it definitely caught me by surprise. I just thought
10:25
Speaker 3: it was a I don't know what, it was, just
10:28
Speaker 3: just a massive bump that I was hoping it would
10:30
Speaker 3: go away but obviously didn't. And then yeah, we took
10:36
Speaker 3: the steps from there just to get it checked over.
10:39
Speaker 2: What were those months like as you're sort of waiting
10:41
Speaker 2: for a diagnosis and then you, I mean, it obviously
10:44
Speaker 2: happened during NPC and there wasn't untill Super Rugby until
10:47
Speaker 2: you've sort of found that out pretty Super Rugby season.
10:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, at the time, I was pretty blase about it.
10:54
Speaker 3: I didn't think about it too much. I was still
10:56
Speaker 3: definitely in the mindset of getting ready for another season,
11:01
Speaker 3: so to be fair, I wasn't too worried about it
11:04
Speaker 3: until we got the core saying that it was a
11:08
Speaker 3: rare sort of cancer sarcoma. Even then, I still didn't
11:12
Speaker 3: understand what it was really. I think the realization actually
11:18
Speaker 3: came when I was getting prepared for surgery. That's when
11:21
Speaker 3: it sort of hit me that things are getting serious now.
11:24
Speaker 3: So yeah, I wouldn't say I was overly worried to
11:28
Speaker 3: begin with, but things quickly came after that.
11:31
Speaker 4: And the recovery from from back sudio was pretty tough.
11:34
Speaker 4: You effectively had to learn to walk again, right.
11:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, So my first one, they had taken the tumor
11:42
Speaker 3: out and a bit of the bottom half of my lap,
11:47
Speaker 3: So that was the first one, and uh, yeah, that
11:52
Speaker 3: was tough to sort of learn how to walk again
11:56
Speaker 3: and just every day functions and things like that. And
12:00
Speaker 3: then yeah, I was lucky enough to be able to
12:03
Speaker 3: rehab my way back into playing a couple of games
12:06
Speaker 3: before I had to have a even bigger one.
12:09
Speaker 4: Asked to post it, and during that time, have you
12:16
Speaker 4: have you told everyone or you've kept this sort of
12:20
Speaker 4: in the house.
12:22
Speaker 3: During that period of During that period, I was, I'd
12:27
Speaker 3: only kept it close to me from my wife and
12:30
Speaker 3: a few of my friends. Like I had this feeling
12:34
Speaker 3: of embarrassment and I was I didn't want to tell
12:38
Speaker 3: my family, even my my other mates. I didn't want
12:42
Speaker 3: to tell them. I kept it close to my close
12:46
Speaker 3: to me for a few months before I really started
12:50
Speaker 3: to tell everyone.
12:51
Speaker 2: Really, so you played super rugby while you're getting radiation,
12:56
Speaker 2: that's right.
12:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I didn't even tell any of my teammates.
13:02
Speaker 3: I was just telling them I was just having doctor's
13:04
Speaker 3: appointments just because I was so focused on because we're
13:10
Speaker 3: having a pretty good year that yeah, And I didn't
13:14
Speaker 3: I guess wanted to be a distraction, not only for
13:17
Speaker 3: myself but for the team as well. So yeah, I
13:21
Speaker 3: even had it from my teammates and would train and
13:24
Speaker 3: then in the afternoons have treatment.
13:27
Speaker 2: What was that like, having treatment and then going and
13:29
Speaker 2: playing eighty minutes of rugby on the weekend at a
13:34
Speaker 2: professional higher level.
13:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, training and playing is hard enough when you're healthy,
13:41
Speaker 3: and just you know, adding that extra load was definitely tough.
13:46
Speaker 3: I was. I was probably stubborn as well. The stubborness
13:51
Speaker 3: probably helped me to push through things, just like, just
13:55
Speaker 3: because I didn't want to be such a burden to
13:58
Speaker 3: anyone or even towards the team. So I don't know
14:02
Speaker 3: if that helped me really, but yeah, it was just
14:07
Speaker 3: it was hard looking back on it now, but at
14:08
Speaker 3: the time I thought it was just something I needed
14:10
Speaker 3: to do.
14:11
Speaker 2: It's a classic Kiwi male sort of thing, isn't it.
14:13
Speaker 2: You just pick it up and keep going and.
14:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't want to worry others. Yeah, that's definitely
14:19
Speaker 3: what it was.
14:20
Speaker 2: And then you come back against the Rebels, is that right?
14:22
Speaker 2: And Melbourne or and come back home against the Rebels
14:26
Speaker 2: after Sugar there was only a few months later. What
14:28
Speaker 2: was that like getting back out on the parking.
14:32
Speaker 3: Probably a sigh relief, just knowing that I've been able to,
14:39
Speaker 3: I guess, come back to the highest level that I
14:42
Speaker 3: could at that time, and just to be back amongst
14:48
Speaker 3: the team. And I feel like I'm fully you know,
14:50
Speaker 3: integrated now and helping the team towards a successful season.
14:55
Speaker 4: And Roby must feel like a real outlet or release
14:58
Speaker 4: from everything else.
15:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely takes you training. If it takes my mind
15:04
Speaker 3: off things being around the team, the boys, Yeah, lift
15:09
Speaker 3: my spirits and things like that. So it was a
15:11
Speaker 3: massive release with me.
15:13
Speaker 4: And you had, you know, kids in the crowds with
15:17
Speaker 4: signs and family come to the games and all those
15:19
Speaker 4: sorts of things.
15:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was that was cool to see. I really
15:23
Speaker 3: appreciated it and just see everyone welcomed me back was
15:28
Speaker 3: a special feeling.
15:30
Speaker 2: What was that like once the team did know and
15:33
Speaker 2: the beginning to obviously march towards the title that year
15:36
Speaker 2: and you're involved everything like that. What was that season
15:39
Speaker 2: like as a whole being in that camp.
15:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, once I let them know, it was it was
15:45
Speaker 3: more of a weight off my shoulders, and you know,
15:50
Speaker 3: everyone was so supportive, everyone back in me. And then
15:54
Speaker 3: when I had to have surgery again and when I
15:56
Speaker 3: was going through my recovery stage, they were there with
16:00
Speaker 3: me in me in hospital and at home, always chicken
16:04
Speaker 3: in on me. So yeah, they were a.
16:07
Speaker 4: Huge Who are some ye best mates on that team?
16:12
Speaker 3: Probably some that I went to school with, aj Harry
16:16
Speaker 3: Flummer before he left, and even some of the guys
16:21
Speaker 3: that I grew up playing league with, like Daniel Utla
16:24
Speaker 3: and things like that. So far, so all those boys,
16:27
Speaker 3: but I'd say like that whole team really yeah, and.
16:32
Speaker 2: What's been cool to be champions that year is a
16:34
Speaker 2: long wait for Auckland as a whole and in the region,
16:37
Speaker 2: but to lift the championship must have been pretty special.
16:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred even just to be a small part
16:43
Speaker 3: of that journey towards the championship. It's been huge to
16:49
Speaker 3: see what I did for not only the organization that
16:52
Speaker 3: the city and the boys, the older boys that have
16:55
Speaker 3: been there, I guess through those you know, those dark times,
17:00
Speaker 3: to see them able to lift that trophy at the
17:03
Speaker 3: end there. Yeah, as a special.
17:04
Speaker 2: Slight in twenty twenty four as well. Obviously come back
17:08
Speaker 2: and you get so good for the Mouldy All Blacks
17:10
Speaker 2: as well.
17:11
Speaker 3: How cool was that? Yeah, that's such a special team
17:14
Speaker 3: to be a part of. It's probably one of the
17:19
Speaker 3: one of my favorite, if not my favorite teams to
17:21
Speaker 3: be a part of. Just the unity that that you
17:28
Speaker 3: feel being amongst them and just being in the team
17:31
Speaker 3: that you know that you'll share the same blood as
17:35
Speaker 3: something special.
17:36
Speaker 2: Could you believe it that you know what had happened
17:37
Speaker 2: over the last few months and then you're playing international
17:40
Speaker 2: rugby with the Muldi or Blacks.
17:42
Speaker 3: Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything like that. I was just
17:45
Speaker 3: happy to be back playing for the Blues. But to
17:48
Speaker 3: have that in the year off was a huge honor
17:53
Speaker 3: and yeah, so special.
17:55
Speaker 2: We often hear from the outside what it's like to
17:56
Speaker 2: be in the Mouldial Blacks camp and you've give us
17:58
Speaker 2: a good insight there. But obviously there's a lot of
18:01
Speaker 2: customs and various things. But you say it seems like
18:03
Speaker 2: everyon Forge is a really tight bond when they play
18:06
Speaker 2: for the Muldi or Blacks.
18:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent, because I would say I wasn't
18:11
Speaker 3: raised in a traditional house moldy household, so there was
18:15
Speaker 3: always times where you almost felt like you didn't deserve
18:19
Speaker 3: to be there. But in that environment, they make it
18:22
Speaker 3: so well known that everyone depending on what level of
18:27
Speaker 3: Maldi you speak or but how comfortable you are, it's
18:31
Speaker 3: you know, it's inclusive, it's for everyone, and then that's
18:34
Speaker 3: what makes it really enjoyable time. Yeah.
18:40
Speaker 4: Did was it special to I guess connect with that
18:45
Speaker 4: part of yourself, you know, whether it be a hacker
18:47
Speaker 4: or a whiter or visiting Mary maybe things that you
18:52
Speaker 4: hadn't hadn't done for a while.
18:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent, just because I guess I wasn't
18:59
Speaker 3: really raised that way and to be able to connect
19:04
Speaker 3: back to a part of myself that you know, wasn't
19:08
Speaker 3: I didn't really know much about it was it was
19:12
Speaker 3: insightful and it made me want to, I guess explore
19:16
Speaker 3: more about that side of myself, and you know, it
19:19
Speaker 3: takes sort of There's a group of us at the Blues.
19:22
Speaker 3: They were taking Mold lessons and just trying to small
19:27
Speaker 3: things just I guess help us understand more about ourselves.
19:32
Speaker 2: So, yeah, and you played for the All Blacks fifteen
19:35
Speaker 2: as well on a Was it Japan as well?
19:38
Speaker 3: I think, yeah, yeah, there's a two games against Japan.
19:41
Speaker 3: There another a huge honor in Milestone for myself. Had
19:49
Speaker 3: my family come over, my dad and then Break flew
19:52
Speaker 3: over also, so having them their familiar faces in the
19:55
Speaker 3: crowd definitely helped. And then ye're also being a part
19:58
Speaker 3: of that team was unreal.
20:00
Speaker 2: Did you feel that maybe the All Blacks were in
20:02
Speaker 2: touch and reach at that point you played for the
20:04
Speaker 2: Maldi All Blacks, the All Blacks fifteen. Was that part
20:08
Speaker 2: of your thinking at all?
20:09
Speaker 3: Or I wouldn't say it was at the forefront of
20:11
Speaker 3: my mind, but I guess like every every kid or
20:16
Speaker 3: every provisional athlete, that is where you're a spider b.
20:18
Speaker 3: So it was in the back of my mind, But
20:20
Speaker 3: it wasn't something that you know, I was relying on
20:24
Speaker 3: or really just you know, hanging my hopes on. It was.
20:28
Speaker 3: I always sort of it came, it came. If it didn't,
20:30
Speaker 3: then I'll just keep working away.
20:34
Speaker 2: And then obviously playing again, and then you hear that
20:37
Speaker 2: the cancer returns. How how long was that sort of
20:40
Speaker 2: gap getting back out on the park and then hearing
20:42
Speaker 2: that news again?
20:45
Speaker 3: Uh? How long was that gap?
20:51
Speaker 1: Oh?
20:51
Speaker 3: It was over a year? Sorry, yeah it was. It
20:58
Speaker 3: was devastating to hear it was. It wasn't something I
21:02
Speaker 3: was ready for just because I was back playing. I'm
21:08
Speaker 3: not playing, sorry, I was back training amongst the team,
21:13
Speaker 3: slowly sort of learning how to run again. I was
21:16
Speaker 3: trying to do everything my power to get fit and
21:20
Speaker 3: strong again. So I was definitely focused on getting back
21:23
Speaker 3: to playing rugby again. And then it was just a
21:27
Speaker 3: routine catch up and yeah, I was on told the
21:31
Speaker 3: fortunate the news that it had come back. Not only
21:35
Speaker 3: had it come back, but it was it was terminal
21:37
Speaker 3: by then, so something I wasn't expecting because I had
21:41
Speaker 3: just come from training and I had left all my
21:43
Speaker 3: kit there, so I was expecting to go back to
21:44
Speaker 3: finish off training. So yeah, definitely blindsided me.
21:50
Speaker 4: How do you begin to confront something like that like
21:55
Speaker 4: you're a naturally positive, upbeat person, right, how do you
22:00
Speaker 4: even begin to process that?
22:08
Speaker 3: I just remember him telling me that it had come back,
22:13
Speaker 3: and then probably just almost daydreaming, like just talking to myself,
22:23
Speaker 3: almost not believing the news. And then yeah, I guess
22:28
Speaker 3: once I came back to my senses, there was you know,
22:31
Speaker 3: a lot of tears and just letting all the emotions
22:36
Speaker 3: out really, and then this time I ended up telling
22:41
Speaker 3: my family straight away just to I guess, get that
22:44
Speaker 3: stress off my test. And then yeah, just a lot
22:49
Speaker 3: of tears with them also, So yeah, just a whole
22:52
Speaker 3: lot of emotions and not knowing how to react really.
22:57
Speaker 3: But it took me a few a few moments to
23:00
Speaker 3: sort of gather myself, and then I guess, not sort
23:05
Speaker 3: of planning what was next, but trying to figure out
23:07
Speaker 3: what the next steps are towards whatever the next year
23:12
Speaker 3: this part of the journey is.
23:14
Speaker 4: And in terms of what's next, obviously you and you
23:16
Speaker 4: know expediate things and you get engaged and get married
23:19
Speaker 4: and go on your honeymoon. How how special was that?
23:23
Speaker 4: I think you guys went to fifteen countries and I
23:27
Speaker 4: had a beautiful wedding and those things.
23:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we decided to do a massive trip over
23:34
Speaker 3: to Europe for a few months there, so that was
23:39
Speaker 3: that was definitely a highlight was the year. Got up
23:45
Speaker 3: with mates over there, ate some good food, enjoyed ourselves
23:48
Speaker 3: and then yeah, when we came back, we got married
23:52
Speaker 3: down and pop Moore, which was real special, just a
23:56
Speaker 3: small one, just our families and friends. And then we
24:00
Speaker 3: came back to Okland had another and another I guess wedding,
24:03
Speaker 3: but it was just more of a party of a
24:06
Speaker 3: few of the boys because they could actually make that one.
24:09
Speaker 3: So yeah, definitely on a real time for us. And
24:13
Speaker 3: then post all of that good stuff, we oh sorry,
24:19
Speaker 3: that's when I started the treatment for chemo. So you've
24:24
Speaker 3: been doing a few cycles right now and I do
24:28
Speaker 3: it once every two weeks on a Thursday, just down
24:32
Speaker 3: the road not too far from here, and then you're
24:36
Speaker 3: just currently having another cycle next week too, So what
24:42
Speaker 3: does that look like?
24:45
Speaker 4: What's that experience like for people who don't know? Is
24:50
Speaker 4: it pretty pretty texting? Can you still get out and
24:55
Speaker 4: enjoy your life around it?
24:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's when I have When I have chemo, that
25:01
Speaker 3: week is pretty much a ride off. Well, especially those
25:05
Speaker 3: first couple of days afterwards it I was just yeah,
25:09
Speaker 3: a bunch of recovery, just mainly sleeping really uh, and
25:14
Speaker 3: then when I'm starting to feel right, I'll try to
25:18
Speaker 3: get out, go for coffees and try to keep trying
25:24
Speaker 3: to have like such a normal life.
25:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, how did you just go back to your winning?
25:28
Speaker 2: How did you go about throwing a winning together so quickly?
25:31
Speaker 3: How did you how did you pull it all together? Well,
25:34
Speaker 3: to be fair, I didn't really planning. Anytime I try
25:40
Speaker 3: to help, it made it worse. It was you'd have
25:49
Speaker 3: to ask your actually to help. Its about what about? Yeah? Yeah,
26:02
Speaker 3: so we were traveling and then she was traveling and planning.
26:06
Speaker 3: I was just enjoying myself. We had our close group
26:12
Speaker 3: of mates back here. They were coordinating everything and checking
26:17
Speaker 3: in off Brett and then so yeah, they were hugel.
26:19
Speaker 2: There's there's a real nice line in the story about
26:22
Speaker 2: you're wedding on in the Woman's Day that you say
26:25
Speaker 2: that this is not a sad story. How do you
26:28
Speaker 2: get the mindset to make it a positive a positive story?
26:32
Speaker 3: This?
26:32
Speaker 2: You know, obviously getting married is great, but the whole
26:35
Speaker 2: thing that comes with it.
26:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think actually Britt said that.
26:44
Speaker 2: It's such a lovely line regardless.
26:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess I'm not too sure. It's just, yeah,
26:59
Speaker 3: I think I've I've come to terms with things, and
27:02
Speaker 3: I'm not someone that likes to waste energy on things
27:05
Speaker 3: that I can't change. So I can't be stressing about
27:10
Speaker 3: what has already happened, well, especially things that yeah, I
27:13
Speaker 3: can't change. So I'd rather spend energy and time elsewhere
27:18
Speaker 3: and looking on the positive things and looking forward to
27:21
Speaker 3: building things while we can. So yeah, that's probably the biggest.
27:25
Speaker 4: Reason why, just with the European trip, lots of foreign countries,
27:32
Speaker 4: travel can be a bit of a ride. Any any
27:34
Speaker 4: memories that stand out, any any good stories Brett's laughing, baby, Yeah.
27:42
Speaker 3: Good stories. Probably. I definitely enjoyed my time over there.
27:51
Speaker 2: Yeah.
27:55
Speaker 3: Yeah. The one time I try to plan an excursion,
28:00
Speaker 3: it was a dog's leading in Norway and traumso because
28:05
Speaker 3: obviously Britt was planning the wedding and the trip of
28:08
Speaker 3: the same time. So I was like, you know, I'll
28:11
Speaker 3: take this off your hands. I'll plan something. I'll sort
28:13
Speaker 3: it out. So I had booked our dogs letting experience
28:20
Speaker 3: that I thought was in the area we were staying.
28:23
Speaker 3: Come to the morning of said dogs letting. Luckily, Britt
28:28
Speaker 3: woke up early and she actually checked where the meeting
28:31
Speaker 3: point was and it was actually two and a half
28:34
Speaker 3: hours away from where we were st because I thought
28:40
Speaker 3: I had read it was in Tromso, but I didn't
28:43
Speaker 3: actually read where the pickup point was, and so she
28:47
Speaker 3: woke me up in a panic and was like, you
28:50
Speaker 3: realize this is not where we were staying. So she
28:54
Speaker 3: was online trying to figure out how we could make
28:56
Speaker 3: our way to this pick up point. We were downloading
28:59
Speaker 3: apps trying to organize taxis, but I was just so expensive.
29:05
Speaker 3: And luckily enough, the company we had booked replied to
29:07
Speaker 3: Britain message on Facebook and they're like, you need to
29:12
Speaker 3: catch this bus and get off of this stop and
29:15
Speaker 3: someone will come pick you up. So yeah, So we
29:19
Speaker 3: sprinted down to the bus terminal, hopped on and they
29:24
Speaker 3: couldn't really speak English, so we're just pointing at this
29:27
Speaker 3: word that we had wrote down the stop. They gave
29:29
Speaker 3: us a thumbs up, like see yeah, and two hours
29:33
Speaker 3: later they gave us a thumbs up again. It's like, yeah,
29:35
Speaker 3: this is your start. So we jumped off, the bus
29:39
Speaker 3: took off and we're just standing in the middle of
29:42
Speaker 3: this icy snow road, no buildings anywhere, and I'm thinking
29:47
Speaker 3: to myself, we've just hopped off in the middle of nowhere.
29:50
Speaker 3: We've got no reception. It's about minus fourteen, and we're
29:54
Speaker 3: just looking at each other like how are we going
29:56
Speaker 3: to get home now? And then yeah, and then lucky enough,
30:01
Speaker 3: someone did come and pick us up. This old dude,
30:05
Speaker 3: this crazy like raccoon hat just stuck his head out.
30:09
Speaker 3: Is are you the Kuies? Yeah, that's us. Yeah, he's
30:13
Speaker 3: like offen, We're off.
30:16
Speaker 2: So what was the dogs living like after the ordeal?
30:20
Speaker 2: Actually did enjoy it?
30:22
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah, it was unreal. I don't think they expected
30:27
Speaker 3: or they realized how big I was, because they only
30:30
Speaker 3: gave us the sled of four dogs, and so when
30:34
Speaker 3: we were trying to go up hills, I actually had
30:36
Speaker 3: to jump off and push push up. These paid all
30:41
Speaker 3: this money just as all work out two and a
30:43
Speaker 3: half hours away.
30:44
Speaker 4: From where we're staying, and you probably wouldn't allowed to
30:47
Speaker 4: plan anything for the rest of the trip.
30:49
Speaker 3: No, No, that was me done.
30:53
Speaker 2: It's part of all of us.
30:54
Speaker 3: Obviously.
30:54
Speaker 2: You you announced publicly on social media that that you've
30:57
Speaker 2: got terminal cancer, and then we see the Blues get
31:01
Speaker 2: them behind you shaving their heads, dying the head blonde.
31:05
Speaker 2: How cool was that to see?
31:07
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was so unexpected. I was already going in
31:11
Speaker 3: to watch a few trainings here and there when I could,
31:15
Speaker 3: and then just going in that day to see or
31:18
Speaker 3: they had died here, and then obviously some of the
31:20
Speaker 3: boys shaving their heads too. I was definitely taken back
31:23
Speaker 3: by it. I wasn't expecting anything like that, so yeah,
31:27
Speaker 3: it was. It was very definitely moving.
31:32
Speaker 4: Who's got the best and worst haircuts?
31:36
Speaker 3: Oh? The best, I'd say probably Bears because he was
31:43
Speaker 3: the only one that actually got it done properly. Yeah,
31:47
Speaker 3: so he's as well as by father Vests. And then
31:49
Speaker 3: the worst at the time was probably Bangers his aunt's Yeah,
31:55
Speaker 3: Scallar blonde scalar. Yeah, that was definitely a sight.
32:00
Speaker 2: Still rocking it now because I saw Bidons at the
32:02
Speaker 2: All Black s Airport yesterday, still still got the blond tints.
32:05
Speaker 2: It must be cool just to see that, you know,
32:07
Speaker 2: and they're on the All Black Sea and now and
32:08
Speaker 2: still ripping it.
32:09
Speaker 3: Yeah. No, it's definitely cool just to see it on
32:11
Speaker 3: the international stage, so it means a lot. So it's
32:14
Speaker 3: been under.
32:14
Speaker 2: Here how important in this whole thing you're promoting sarcoma
32:18
Speaker 2: awareness to be an ambassador to get the word out.
32:22
Speaker 3: It's huguely important. I thought it was a good idea
32:27
Speaker 3: just to use my platform or whatever what kind of
32:31
Speaker 3: platform that I do have, just spread awareness about such
32:37
Speaker 3: a rare cancer that doesn't really have too much information
32:40
Speaker 3: about it. So I thought it was important just, yeah,
32:46
Speaker 3: bring people's attention towards something that is unfortunately starting to
32:52
Speaker 3: be a lot more common. And there's been a lot
32:56
Speaker 3: of people that have reached out with you know, different
32:59
Speaker 3: stories with how it's helped them, and so yeah, that's
33:05
Speaker 3: just really important for me just to I guess, help
33:08
Speaker 3: those poll especially the older generation that probably aren't too
33:13
Speaker 3: tech savvy and who can sort of voice their own
33:18
Speaker 3: opinions or advocate for themselves. So yeah, that's probably the
33:22
Speaker 3: main reason.
33:23
Speaker 4: Can you share with us any people that have you
33:27
Speaker 4: reached out and that you've made a difference through this journey?
33:32
Speaker 3: Uh? Probably? I guess One person is his name is Tom.
33:37
Speaker 3: We we catch up for coffees and we're meant to
33:41
Speaker 3: catch up again, but he's been a bit under the
33:43
Speaker 3: weather at the moment. He's someone that's I guess helped
33:50
Speaker 3: me along my journey too. He's a very positive and
33:55
Speaker 3: outgoing person. He still works being even though that he's
34:00
Speaker 3: you know too male ill and has a a different
34:05
Speaker 3: type of psychometal than me. But he's yeah, someone that
34:10
Speaker 3: I guess we've helped each other in this journey. So
34:15
Speaker 3: and there's another girl, Hailey, who's a bit like me
34:20
Speaker 3: that's try to advocate and spread awareness for the foundation.
34:25
Speaker 3: So probably those two.
34:27
Speaker 4: And you've had players across the sporting spectrum rugby league,
34:32
Speaker 4: other sports as well do the this try screen celebrations
34:36
Speaker 4: and whatnot. How how special is it to have that
34:41
Speaker 4: impact and and for people to get on board.
34:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been it's been amazing to see the amount
34:48
Speaker 3: of support that has been generated just from that try
34:52
Speaker 3: celebration and to see it on the weekends when when
34:58
Speaker 3: on the international stage or for Super Rugby FBC and
35:03
Speaker 3: the Woman's rugby as well, it's been unreal. I still
35:08
Speaker 3: get messages from parents and seeing their kids do it
35:13
Speaker 3: just at their local footy wherever they are, and it's
35:17
Speaker 3: been special to see the I guess the movement that
35:20
Speaker 3: it's sort of started, and yeah, what it is now?
35:23
Speaker 2: You touched on it for what does a week look
35:25
Speaker 2: like for you at the moment you're still training in
35:27
Speaker 2: the gym, I saw, I think on social media and
35:30
Speaker 2: making sure you're keeping active as well.
35:33
Speaker 3: Yeah. I try to keep things as relatively normal as
35:38
Speaker 3: I can when I can. So yeah, just I guess
35:42
Speaker 3: trying to get back to the gym, not doing anything crazy.
35:45
Speaker 3: It's just smare to get moving and no more dogs letting. Yeah,
35:53
Speaker 3: just things just to keep me moving, keep my mind
35:56
Speaker 3: like ticking over. Yeah, I got two dogs at home,
36:01
Speaker 3: so when I can, I'll take them out for a
36:03
Speaker 3: walk for a bit of fresh air and going out
36:07
Speaker 3: to cafes, going to get coffees with some mates. And
36:11
Speaker 3: I've been doing my own power reviews.
36:15
Speaker 4: Bakeries, intrigued, who's who's winning that race, what's the leading.
36:21
Speaker 3: The best one I had is probably one next to
36:25
Speaker 3: sell in College Oliverus Bakery. They do a good beef
36:30
Speaker 3: briskit and double cheese pie.
36:31
Speaker 4: Nice.
36:33
Speaker 3: But obviously did my research online and go to all
36:37
Speaker 3: the popular ones to like Parrington's winning and pie.
36:40
Speaker 2: You I was gonna say traditional sort of steak and
36:42
Speaker 2: cheese or steak or willing to branch out with what
36:46
Speaker 2: kind of PI.
36:46
Speaker 3: Are you like I was gonna say, I'm actually a
36:57
Speaker 3: bacon nig pie person. It's not many people like, so
37:02
Speaker 3: I'll get one of those and then whatever the specialties
37:06
Speaker 3: of the place that we're going to, oh a crack
37:08
Speaker 3: at that too.
37:10
Speaker 2: Amongst all this, How important has been supporting it work,
37:13
Speaker 2: like like your family, like your teammates in all of this.
37:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been. It's been massive. I can't explain how
37:23
Speaker 3: much of like having a good support system really does
37:28
Speaker 3: help you. I don't need physically, but mentally you can
37:31
Speaker 3: rely on someone just to get things off your chest
37:36
Speaker 3: and just really keep you grounded. And I guess yeah,
37:43
Speaker 3: having having your back really it's been so important.
37:46
Speaker 2: What's your message to que male or females you know
37:50
Speaker 2: that perhaps you know have noticed something.
37:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, if there's anything like that looks unusual, lumps, bumps
37:59
Speaker 3: anywhere on your body is definitely get it checked out,
38:03
Speaker 3: your local doctor, GP, just anyone really that you think
38:08
Speaker 3: they will have a bit more information about it. So
38:12
Speaker 3: I encourage everyone to go get checked over and don't
38:16
Speaker 3: leave it so late like my guy did.
38:17
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, Cam really appreciate you sharing your journey with us
38:21
Speaker 2: has been lovely in the chat and wishing you all
38:22
Speaker 2: the best thinking about Thank you very much for having
38:24
Speaker 2: me appreciate it.
38:27
Speaker 1: Rugby Direct with Elliott Smith and Liam Navier, powered by
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Speaker 1: News Talks ed be here every All Blacks game live
38:34
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38:37
Speaker 2: So grate forward to Cameron so far for his time
38:40
Speaker 2: and if you are able. Psychomer Awareness Month continues through
38:43
Speaker 2: until the end of July. We'd encourage you to dig
38:46
Speaker 2: deep for any cause that relates and fundraisers for that
38:51
Speaker 2: that has been Rugby Direct. We're back next week. We
38:54
Speaker 2: have a South Africa tour squad for the All Blacks
38:57
Speaker 2: to look forward to them. Thanks for your company and
39:00
Speaker 2: thanks to Mark Kelly for producing. We'll see you next week.
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