Groundbreaking cancer treatment surgery has given a young Ngqamakhwe boy an opportunity to continue doing what he loves most – playing soccer.
On Monday at Frere Hospital in East London Qiqa Nobanda, 13, became the first Eastern Cape childhood cancer patient to undergo a four-hour operation to remove a tumour growing between his hip and leg.
He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which is a cancerous tumour in the bone, earlier this year.
When he first complained of severe pain in his right leg last December, his mother wrote it off as a soccer-related injury.
Three months later, the boy landed up at Frere Hospital and tests revealed that it was in fact cancer of the bone.
Because of a quick diagnosis his leg was saved.
Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer common in teenage boys and is sometimes misunderstood as mere sports injuries by parents.
On Monday, Steve Biko Academic Hospital head of the tumour and sepsis unit Dr Jaco Viljoen worked with Frere’s medical team to carry out the complex procedure.
When the Dispatch visited the hospital the boy was still highly sedated but his mother, Thembisa, said she was happy her son would be okay.
Teen soccer player receives lifesaving surgery at Frere
Image: Michael Pinyana
Groundbreaking cancer treatment surgery has given a young Ngqamakhwe boy an opportunity to continue doing what he loves most – playing soccer.
On Monday at Frere Hospital in East London Qiqa Nobanda, 13, became the first Eastern Cape childhood cancer patient to undergo a four-hour operation to remove a tumour growing between his hip and leg.
He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which is a cancerous tumour in the bone, earlier this year.
When he first complained of severe pain in his right leg last December, his mother wrote it off as a soccer-related injury.
Three months later, the boy landed up at Frere Hospital and tests revealed that it was in fact cancer of the bone.
Because of a quick diagnosis his leg was saved.
Osteosarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer common in teenage boys and is sometimes misunderstood as mere sports injuries by parents.
On Monday, Steve Biko Academic Hospital head of the tumour and sepsis unit Dr Jaco Viljoen worked with Frere’s medical team to carry out the complex procedure.
When the Dispatch visited the hospital the boy was still highly sedated but his mother, Thembisa, said she was happy her son would be okay.
“I was so scared when they explained the procedure to me but after he [Qiqa] agreed he begged me to say yes.
“I am so happy and relieved that he will be able to grow normally and continue playing sports,” she said.
Viljoen, a former Frere orthopaedic surgeon, said he was proud to have been part of the team to first perform this kind of surgery in the province.
He said the huge tumour that had been growing on Qiqa’s leg was cut out, and the boy would be put on chemotherapy to kill off any remaining cancer cells.
“Often the only treatment has been to amputate the leg because kids are brought in too late, but the good news with Qiqa was that it was picked up quite early and could still be cut out,” Viljoen said.
He said five-year survival chances for child patients receiving the same procedure was 85%.
Frere CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said: “It’s amazing to be able to offer this service to young children right here at Frere, sparing them and their family from having to go outside the province for treatment.”
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