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He was gone. Down for the count. Ruled out of playing rugby with a life-threatening heart condition – never to be seen on a rugby field again.
But here he is now, No. 8 of the ACT Brumbies since the start of the Super Rugby 2015 season, and face reigning Super Rugby champions, the NSW Waratahs, at Alliance Stadium on Sunday.
Another good performance will put Ita Vaea at the threshold of Wallaby selection.
This is his story.
Ita Vaea is a humble kid from Tonga who came to Brisbane from New Zealand’s Nelson Bay College at the end of 2007 to pursue a dream – to play for the Wallabies.
I first met Vaea with his parents in late 2007, when I was coaching Norths in the Brisbane premier grade competition and he was a fresh faced 18-year-old kid straight out of school. Open, engaging and full of life. Humble but quietly confident in his ability.
I asked him what his goals in rugby were, and he told me he had just finished school in New Zealand and had to decide whether he wanted to play for the All Blacks or the Wallabies. He chose the Wallabies.
As a coach this was music to my ears, someone actually articulating a defined goal and not being afraid to shoot for the stars.
And so his journey began. Securing the premier grade No. 8 berth, Vaea’s form was such that I believed there was every chance over time he may indeed achieve his objective.
After two seasons with Norths, Vaea was invited to join the Brumbies rugby academy, which saw him move to Southern Districts in 2010, and ultimately force his way into the Super Rugby Brumbies squad for 2011 and 2012, after an injury ruled out Stephen Hoiles.
Just when everything was going well, disaster struck.
In 2012 while playing for local Canberra club the Gungahlin Eagles, Vaea first realised something was wrong. Subsequently at Brumbies training, he was not feeling well and was sent to the hospital.
After a battery of tests, it was finally discovered that he had a blood clot in his leg as a consequence of a tear in his heart muscle.
At the end of the 2012 season, and at just 24 years of age, Vaea was told by his cardiologist he would never exercise again, let alone play rugby, when scans found a further blood clot on his heart.
Forced to give up the game he loved so much, he was placed on warfarin and saw his weight balloon by almost 30 kilograms. And while the rugby community thought they would never see the man they call the ‘Tongan Tornado’ grace a rugby field again, Vaea had other ideas.
Fiercely determined, he set about proving his doctors wrong.
Thankfully, the Brumbies stayed in touch with him and when he made the NSW Country Eagles squad for the NRC competition in 2014, his head coach was none other than Darren Coleman, who was his original coach at the Brumbies Academy in 2010.
When Brumbies backrower Fotu Auelua succumbed to a knee injury requiring surgery in the 2015 pre-season, Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham gave Vaea another shot.
Despite missing the entire Super Rugby seasons in 2013 and 2014, such is the regard that Vaea is held in by the Brumbies that Larkham has rewarded his tenacity with a starting spot in the last four Super Rugby matches of 2015.
And Vaea has responded in the best way possible – on the rugby field.
On Sunday, Vaea is the Brumbies’ starting No. 8 against 32-year-old veteran Wallaby Wycliff Palu. In a game with many intriguing match ups, the implications of rising to the occasion cannot be overstated.
A spot in the Wallabies Squad is on offer. Can Ita Vaea do it? You bet your life he can.
In fact, he is exactly the type of player we need. Big, tough, aggressive, fiercely loyal – humble but with a never-say-die attitude – and prepared to give everything he’s got.
With the first Test of 2015 against the Springboks on July 18, Vaea’s strength, bulk and tenacity might be just what the doctor ordered.