KEY POINTS:
Rugby titan Wayne (Buck) Shelford says facing his mortality during a battle with cancer last year has made him cherish friends and family more.
Now, as one of the faces for a new awareness campaign beginning this week, he is urging men to get checks for prostate cancer .
Last May Shelford was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the lymph nodes, weakening the immune system. After six rounds of chemotherapy, the 50-year-old father-of-two has been given a tentative all clear, subject to three- to six-monthly checks.
He went public about the disease last June after realising his high profile would thwart attempts at privacy.
"It's pretty hard to hide the fact you're walking around the hospital ward getting shit shoved up your arms," said Shelford.
He told the Herald on Sunday his cancer put life in a new perspective. "You don't tend to work as hard, you spend more time with family and friends, that's the main thing for me.
"In New Zealand we have this desire to try really, really hard, and work long hours.
"But, what's it all for? When you get hit with cancer you realise that death could be just around the corner.
"Working hard doesn't bring you back from the dead."
Shelford, who captained the All Blacks in 14 tests without losing, and continued playing with a torn scrotum during the infamous 1986 test clash with France, admitted chemotherapy was tough.
"It's quite cruel. The poisons they throw into you do things to your body you don't wish on anybody."
He drew strength from his family, especially wife Jo and their two adult children, Lia and Eruera.
The disease seemed especially widespread in the rugby community. "I've probably been to three funerals in the last year which were cancer-related, and all rugby players."
He's encouraging other men to get regular checks to improve their chances of early detection and a good prognosis.
"Go and get checked, it doesn't take long.
"Our partners and wives are being checked all the time, so let's take it on the chin and go and get regular checks, and live longer, live smarter.
"Even if you are a burly big All Black, you can still come down with cancer. We can't just turn our backs on it. No one is infallible."
The campaign is also fronted by fellow ex-All Blacks Michael Jones, Ian Jones, Craig Innes and Stu Wilson. It will be launched at the Wade Hotel, which Shelford owns, in Silverdale, north of Auckland, on Thursday.
