Blues forward Cameron Suafoa reveals cancer battle

The Blues have revealed forward Cameron Suafoa’s battle with cancer, sharing a video on their social media that documents the 25-year-old’s journey since his November 2023 diagnosis.

The nine-minute clip sees Suafoa and his partner Brittany offer honest and raw accounts of the past five months and includes footage from one of his daily visits to radiotherapy.

Suafoa reveals that he underwent surgery soon after the diagnosis to remove a tumour and despite the demands of the therapy, had continued training and even playing throughout the early stages of the 2024 season.

Suafoa even started at lock in the Blues’ round three loss to the Hurricanes two weeks after starting radiation therapy, only to fly to Sydney the following Friday after completing his radiation for that week, meeting his teammates there and appearing off the bench in the win over the Waratahs.

Suafoa played 104 minutes over those two contests. He has been absent from the team sheets since.

The versatile forward has been a Maori All Blacks and All Blacks XV representative in recent seasons, providing dynamic and physical play in both the lock and loose forward positions.

He credited his partner as his “rock” throughout the process, with his family spread throughout New Zealand and Australia, Suafoa said her support had been amazing.

“We’ve made it through but it has been hard,” Brittany said of the journey since Cameron’s diagnosis.

“Cam is incredibly humble and makes this shit look easy.

“He shows up to trainings every day and says he’s fine and nobody would know any different, that he’s been going through this.”

Both Cameron and Brittany were eager to find any positives in the situation and wanted to use the opportunity to encourage people to take their health seriously and be proactive.

“It can happen to anyone, get your lump checked,” she said.

“You can go to a physio, you can go to your GP, you can go to anyone, all you need to do is get an X-ray or an ultrasound and if it feels odd, don’t just sit with it.

“Life is too short, honestly, we don’t wish this upon anyone but it’s also time and time is important so it is something, if your not feeling right, please reach out to somebody.”

Life’s bigger than rugby

In November 2023, Cameron Suafoa received some life changing news.

Hear his story. pic.twitter.com/teek9LvUPL

— The Blues (@BluesRugbyTeam) April 14, 2024