Former All Black Adam Thomson has capped off a remarkable recovery from being hospital bound to signing to a new rugby deal.
The 37-year-old has signed with the Utah Warriors in the Major League Rugby competition.
The club have also signed Fijian sevens star Pat Ravouvou, an Olympic gold medallist.
Utah made the semifinals in the inaugural season of Major League Rugby but have had a rough start to 2019 with just two wins from 11 games.
Thomson was admitted to Tsukuba Memorial hospital in Tokyo on December 19 2017, with an illness that left him unable to walk for days and initially had doctors baffled.
He posted from his hospital bed during Christmas 2017 saying he had a long road to recovery ahead after being rushed to hospital in "excruciating pain".
He was later diagnosed with lumbar discitis — an infection in the intervertebral disc space.
Thomson left New Zealand at the end of the 2012 Super Rugby season after 68 appearances for the Highlanders to take up a contract with the Canon Eagles in Japan.
He returned to Super Rugby in 2015 and '16, playing for the Reds and Rebels respectively, before going back to Japan, linking back up with the Canon Eagles.
In 2017 he joined the NEC Green Rockets in the Japanese Top League.
As well as taking the field for the All Blacks, Thomson represented New Zealand at secondary schools, under-19, under-21 and Sevens levels.