New Zealand's Sir Richard Hadlee Opens Up On His Cancer Battle

One of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and probably the best-ever from New Zealand, Sir Richard Hadlee opened up on his cancer battle, revealing how – despite a remarkable recovery – he’s “not out of the woods” just yet. Hadlee says he is “at the moment all clear” in his two-year-old battle with cancer, which forced two surgeries and changed his perspective on life.

The original tumour was discovered when the former cricket all-rounder had a routine, three-year colonoscopy in May 2018. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in June 2018. A month after undergoing surgery, to have the tumour removed, he had to be operated for secondary liver cancer.

I was faced with a huge challenge: Sir Richard Hadlee

After standard operations to treat bowel cancer, growths could recur in the liver, lungs or abdominal cavity. Hadlee has previously been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, a disorder which caused his heart to beat irregularly and required surgery to fix.

“It puts life into perspective because I never had symptoms. It was purely a freak situation where a routine colonoscopy determined the problem. I was faced with a huge challenge in my life as odds were not in my favour,” Hadlee said during a free-wheeling chat in one of his rare public appearances.

Tomorrow I could wake up with a symptom: Sir Richard Hadlee

However, nearly two years on, and after six gruelling months of chemotherapy, Hadlee is back to living life as he wishes, though is aware he is by no means permanently cancer-free.

Hadlee said the next five years are important.

“Two years have gone by and I have to go through the next three years. Tomorrow I could wake up with a symptom. At the moment all good, I lost 10 kilos. I do all normal things now, just watch my diet. I get regular check-ups every three months. Tests were also in my favour but I am not out of the woods,” he added.

At the moment, everything has fallen in place for Hadlee but the former cricketer wants to see himself without a symptom in the next couple of years.

“I have to still get through the next 12 to 24 months without re-occurrence. If it comes back, I will deal with it then but it won’t be good. But at the moment all clear,” he said.

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