“This Is Amazing”: SA Teen Beats Bone Cancer Through Mzansi’s First Liquid Nitrogen Surgery

• A 15-year-old rugby player from Pretoria received one of the most devastating bone cancer diagnoses a teenager can face
• Surgeons removed part of his thigh bone, froze it at 179 degrees below zero, and successfully reimplanted it in a South African first
• Just one day after the operation, the teenager was already on his feet taking his first assisted steps down the ward

A rugby-loving 15-year-old from Pretoria was staring down one of the worst diagnoses imaginable. Doctors told him he had Ewing’s sarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer in his femur.

The options on the table were grim, and his future in sport looked finished. What happened next at a Tshwane hospital had never been done before in South Africa.

On 15 April 2026, a surgical team at Netcare Unitas Hospital in Tshwane changed everything. Orthopaedic oncologist Dr Jaco Viljoen led a four-and-a-half-hour procedure that stunned the medical world. The team removed a section of the teenager’s thigh bone and froze it in liquid nitrogen. They then put his own treated bone back in, clean and free of cancer. The technique had never been performed in this country before that day.

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A cancer that targets the young

Ewing’s sarcoma is the second most common bone cancer in children and adolescents worldwide. It most commonly strikes young people between the ages of 10 and 20 years old. The cancer grows fast, spreads aggressively, and shows little mercy when it takes hold. When it develops in a long bone like the femur, the treatment choices are historically brutal.

A decade of preparation and one critical moment

According to a report by GOODTHINGSGUY, Viljoen had spent nearly ten years preparing for a case exactly like this one. The technique he reached for was originally pioneered by specialists in Japan many years ago. It has rarely been performed anywhere in the world, least of all on Ewing’s sarcoma patients.

The process starts with removing the cancerous section of bone from the patient completely. That bone is then submerged in liquid nitrogen at 179 degrees below zero to destroy the cancer cells. The bone’s natural structure stays intact through the freezing process.

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Once treated, the same bone is reimplanted and secured, and the body takes over from there. No foreign metal goes in. No irradiated tissue is put back. Just the teenager’s own bone, restored and ready to grow again.

See the Facebook post by GOODTHINGSGUY below:

Mzansi reacts to the breakthrough

Briefly News compiled some comments from the post below.

Marietjie Fripp commented:

“Dr Viljoen is brilliant. He saved my smashed wrist and hip two years ago. I will always praise him for giving me a close to normal life again. Congratulations to Dr Viljoen and his team.”

Ross Riddle said:

"This is amazing. Two years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with Ewing’s, and she had part of her humerus removed, radiated and then reinserted and is now in remission. These doctors are amazing and need to keep pushing the boundaries for these children.”

Samantha Nolan wrote:

“That's incredible! Absolutely life-changing, not only for the teen but for everyone else who faces the same prognosis. Well done to everyone involved. 💓”

Janyce Harper Dalziel noted:

“Amazing what medical science is doing now. Congratulations to that team. 👏🏻🫶🏻”

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Anneli Claassen said:

I am so proud to be South African when I read about live-changing procedures like this. Well done, Dr J and his team. 👌🏻👏🏻🙏🏻”

More about Mzansi doctors

• A Western Cape man living with recurring thyroid cancer for over a decade took his treatment search into his own hands after doctors ran out of surgical options.
• A team of Cape Town doctors successfully used extreme cold temperatures to freeze and destroy recurring thyroid cancer cells for the first time in South Africa.
• A cancer survivor celebrated a milestone after persevering with her studies while in and out of the hospital to complete her course.

Source: Briefly News