Close shave for Oakley’s supporters
VETERAN Hartpury RFC forward, Rhys Oakley, has faced many tough battles in more than 16 years as a professional sportsman.
However, nothing that has happened on the field could have prepared him for the news he received after attending hospital a few weeks ago for a routine close-season ankle operation.
Oakley, 37, who was selected by Wales back in 2003 and has represented Bristol, Newport Gwent Dragons, Leeds (now Yorkshire Carnegie), Northampton Saints and Birmingham Moseley before his arrival in Gloucestershire, was concerned about some chest pains and breathlessness during his early pre-season training at Hartpury.
Doctors instructed him to have further tests before going under anaesthetic for the ankle op.
The result was far from expected, as Oakley told
Gloucestershire Live.
“I went for a CT scan with the cardiologist and they found a large mass lump in my chest cavity behind my breast plate, slightly pushing against my heart, which is what was making it hard to breathe.
“They initially thought it could be a lymphoma or some kind of cancerous mass but weren’t sure, so they needed to do a biopsy and blood tests.
“I had those things done, and it came back that it’s a form of testicular cancer that has not grown in my testicles, but has grown in my chest.
Oakley is now undergoing treatment for the condition, known as metastatic testicular cancer.
Rugby breeds a strong team ethic and this is especially true at Hartpury College and University Centre, where many of players – some of whom have been at the collegebased club since arriving as 16-year old sixth formers – live, work and play together for nine months of the year.
The squad quickly mobilised themselves to provide support not only for Oakley, who has a young family, but also for the specialist local charity, “It’s in the Bag”, which focuses on the needs of testicular cancer sufferers across the South-West of England and beyond.
A sponsored Head Shave was arranged for Bank Holiday Monday (August 27), at the Hartpury Sports Academy, with proceeds to be divided between the Oakley family and the charity. All of the Hartpury RFC squad went under the clippers of TR’s Barbershop in Gloucester with £5,000 as the target.
Hartpury head coach Mark Cornwell said: “Rhys has been an outstanding servant to Hartpury for the last three years and captained the squad, led by example.
“He’s a strong character and if anyone’s going to pull through something like this, Rhys will.”