Port Lincoln teen Phillip Haereroa-Rogers Jnr loses third battle with cancer

Surrounded by family and “resting in the arms of his ancestors”, a Port Lincoln teen has lost his years long battle against cancer.

After being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at 14, Phillip Haereroa-Rogers Jnr lost his battle with cancer on Friday June 6. Picture: GoFundMe

Teenager Phillip Haereroa-Rogers Jnr has heartbreakingly lost his third battle with cancer.

After first being diagnosed with osteosarcoma — a rare and aggressive bone cancer — at only 14 years old, the Port Lincoln teenager continued to fight until he was 19 years old.

Doctors discovered two tumours in his lungs earlier this year after he was rushed to hospital struggling to breathe.

It was then they told him his diagnosis was terminal.

His father, Phillip Rogers, 58, told The Advertiser at the time he wasn’t “giving up” on his son.

On June 6, Phillip took his last breath.

Phillip Haereroa-Rogers Jnr pictured holding his sister’s hand. Picture: Facebook

Phillip Rogers Jr was 19-years-old. Picture: GoFundMe

His sister Manasseh Haereroa-Rogers posted a tribute to her brother on social media. Picture: Facebook

“Rest easy my sweet angel brother,” his sister Manasseh Haereroa-Rogers wrote on Facebook.

“Your wairua (soul) is free, flying with the stars, resting in the arms of our tūpuna (ancestors).”

Comments from family and friends expressing their condolences flooded the post.

In Phillip’s final days his family came and surrounded him in his room at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, including his mother Rebecca Haereroa-Rogers who sung to him and played an instrument.

“In our culture we don’t go through this stuff alone, we come together, we sing, we hold each other up and we stay close to spirit and the land,” Ms Haereroa-Rogers, Phillips sister wrote on Facebook.

Phillip was first diagnosed in 2020 after he was experiencing a sore ankle. Picture: Supplied

He underwent nine months of chemotherapy when doctors discovered he had osteosarcoma.. Picture: Supplied

Phillip was first diagnosed in 2020 after he was experiencing a sore ankle. He underwent nine months of chemotherapy when doctors discovered he had osteosarcoma.

Eventually he lost his leg just under the knee.

He underwent another surgery in 2022 to remove a tumour in his lung and seemed to be recovering before he found himself struggling to breathe earlier this month.

When he was rushed to hospital, not only did doctors find two tumours in his lungs, but also nearly two litres of blood.

He was flown from Port Lincoln to Adelaide for emergency surgery.

Phillip was born on June 29, 2006.

Originally published as Port Lincoln teen Phillip Haereroa-Rogers Jnr loses third battle with cancer