Rugby: Haiu begins chemotherapy

Kurtis Haiu. Photo / Getty Images

Blues lock Kurtis Haiu began his chemotherapy yesterday, hoping for better than the predicted 65 per cent cure rate after five years.

Haiu has Ewings sarcoma, an unusual tumour on a rib. Former All Black Greg Cooper recovered from the same bone cancer as a teenager. It generally strikes in adolescence or the early 20s. Blues doctor Stephen Kara said, "It is a stage-two cancer, which means it has spread just outside the bone into the soft tissue but is nowhere else.

"So the treatment for this is he will undergo three months of chemotherapy before seeing a surgeon and having the residual tumour taken out. He will have six months of chemotherapy after the surgery so effectively he will be out of rugby for at least 12 months."

Haiu's specialist had quoted a cure rate of 65 per cent. Treatment started yesterday at the oncology unit in Auckland Hospital.

Before the biopsy, medics felt Haiu's diagnosis would be in one of four categories and unfortunately his was the worst of the quartet. The others had a much higher cure rate, but Kara pointed out that Haiu was fit and strong and his cancer was only at stage two.

The lock was naturally upset and devastated, said Kara. He had spoken to a stunned Blues squad again yesterday and in usual Haiu fashion would face his problem strongly.

Coach Pat Lam said he could not comment on Haiu's court appearance tomorrow but that compounded the player's troubles. The Blues would continue to support him and his family, said Lam, and the best present they could deliver him was a Super 15 title.