Incredible moment 86-year-old ballerina is given a second chance to dance thanks to revolutionary cancer surgery on RPA

EXCLUSIVE: All her life Valma had "never been sick". But at 86 years old, she was about to undergo a life-saving operation.

After the chance discovery of a lesion on her lung, Valma was taken to the Royal Prince Alfred hospital. There she was offered robotic surgery to remove the cancer and in turn remove half of her lung.

As you can see in the video above, it was quite the incredible procedure.

"I wasn't feeling well and my son-in-law called an ambulance," Valma said in an interview with 9Entertainment.

In fact, it was her first time in an ambulance in 86 years.

A ballet dancer her whole life, Valma is a mother to four, grandmother to 12 and great grandmother to seven children.

Stream the last episodes of RPA on 9Now.

She was admitted to hospital for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). According to the Mayo Clinic, RSV causes infections of the lung and respiratory tract.

Valma had no idea what the virus was or how serious it became: "They said, 'I think you should see this very good specialist'."

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That specialist was Dr. Chris Cao, who would perform the surgery to remove the cancer on the top lobe of her left lung.

"With 86-year-olds, you need to make sure you get it right the first time, because you may not get a second chance," Dr. Cao said.

Dr. Chris Cao opens up about the risk of the surgery here:

Although Valma had worries of her own, she knew she was strong enough to have the robotic surgery.

In the surgery, robotic devices, miniature cameras, and precision instruments were used to access the lungs through much smaller incisions, often resulting in faster recovery times.

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Although revolutionary, the procedure was so delicate, any slip would be catastrophic.

"I had such confidence in professor Cao, that I had no problem at all," said Valma. "I was ready."

The question remained, was the cancer removed?

Catch the incredible results and Dr. Cao's findings here:

With the surgery a success, Valma couldn't quite believe what had happened.

"It was quite amazing," she said. "I had two wonderful doctors that saved my life."

She was also pleased to know her story was being shared in a special episode of RPA.

"I would like to share my story to show older people not to be frightened of having an operation," said Valma.

"I've had some amazing things happen in my life, but I think this one tops the lot."

With recovery well underway, Valma admitted the secret to long life has been her exercises every morning, and "a lot of gardening".

"I think it's in my discipline from ballet, really, we're used to pain. We just get on it with," she laughed.

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With the surgery a success she'd be given not only a second chance at life, but also a second chance to dance.

"I said I'd dance out of the hospital and I did. That's the last thing that happened," she smiled.

You can catch Valma's whole story by watching Episode 3 Ballerina Valma of RPA on 9Now.

Stream the last episodes of RPA on 9Now.

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