After tearing his shoulder in April, Owen Franks' Rugby World Cup hopes looked to be all but over.
With surgery the recommended option, Franks was facing a recovery period of up to six months which would have put him in a race against the clock to get fit for selection.
Instead, he had 100 million of his own stem cells injected into the injured area by Queenstown-based regenerative medicine company ReGen Cellular, and returned to the pitch before the end of the Super Rugby season in early July.
"Obviously a big year this year with the Crusaders and the All Blacks at the World Cup. So for me surgery would be the last option possible just because when you have surgery it's not only the joint that's immobilised, but you have to change your whole training because I've never seen such a decent injury so for me stem cells is the thing I thought of," Franks said.
"I think it's important when you're an athlete to get as much advice as you can and get all the facts before you make big decisions like having surgery and things like that because ultimately you are in charge of your own career so you've got to make smart choices," Franks said.
