Former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns has given fans a glimpse into his road to recovery after suffering life-threatening medical events last year.
Cairns collapsed in Canberra last August after suffering a heart attack, resulting in an aortic dissection, or a tear in the inner layer of the body's main artery.
The 51-year-old had to undergo emergency heart surgery as a result. However, during life-saving emergency heart surgery in Sydney, Cairns suffered a stroke in his spine, resulting in paralysis in his legs.
Cairns has since been recovering at a special rehabilitation facility at the University of Canberra, and his latest update looked very encouraging. In a post of social media, Cairns shared video of him being helped by a staffer and with the use of a frame, turning his body around and walking himself in a straight line.
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Advertise with NZME."It ain't pretty, but it's progress. Working hard since I got back from Xmas break. Not in danger of winning any Olympic medals just yet, but good to be standing tall and heading in the right direction," Cairns posted alongside the video.
It's the latest in a growing number of updates the former Black Caps quick has shared with his fans, noting he would try to provide updates where possible on his road to recovery.
In an interview with NZME in November last year, Cairns acknowledged the Japanese art of Kintsugi; the belief something broken becomes stronger and more beautiful because of imperfections.
The father-of-five bears the scars of how his life was saved, including a golf ball sized pitch mark in his left leg as a nod to vascular surgery which had to heal from the inside out.
"We're all broken in some way and often it's a case of embracing those faults that make us who we are," Cairns told NZME.
"When I woke up from the original heart operation and realised what I'd gone through, my legs felt like they weighed 200kg each. That's when a scan revealed the spinal stroke.
"That threw in a whole new element to what the future looked like. I was always goal and destination focused, whereas this battle is about the journey. The nerves and neural pathways provide a complex system and you don't know when or if they will switch back on to allow you to stand and walk again. It's a different mindset, but I'm fortunate because death and brain damage were also possibilities with something like this."
