Niu Jian, the young Chinese player whose promising career was stalled by a battle with leukaemia, has had the bone-marrow transplant operation he needed to save his life.
Now the talented forward starts the long drive over the line to recovery.
The operation took place at the end of April at a hospital in Beijing, with his mother donating the bone marrow he needed. Niu is in an isolation unit in a Beijing hospital and he will be there for the next three weeks or so at least building up his strength towards what will hopefully be a complete recovery.
'It all went very smoothly. I'll be in intensive care for 20 days. This operation is just one part of the procedure but it is the main part and it's finished, so now I'm waiting for small procedures,' said Niu, speaking by mobile phone from the isolation ward.
A friendly, self-effacing law student from Shijiazhuang, the capital of nearby Hebei province, Niu plays his rugby for China's top side, China Agricultural University, and before his illness the 22-year-old was a definite contender for the national team.
The cost of the treatment is not cheap, even in China where these procedures cost a lot less than in the West.