Former all-rounder Chris Cairns suffered paralysis in his legs after having a stroke in his spine during a life-saving surgery, as per reports. The former New Zealand cricketer came back to the Australian capital of Canberra where he resides, but for now, he remains in a serious condition after suffering complications after undergoing major heart surgery in Sydney.
His lawyer Aaron Lloyd published a statement on stuff.co.NZ. today about his health where he states that during the life-saving emergency heart surgery Chris was undergoing in Sydney he suffered a stroke in his spine which has resulted in him suffering paralysis in his legs. He added by saying that as a result of this the cricketer will be undertaking a significant rehabilitation process at a specialist spinal hospital in Australia.
The 51-year-old former cricketer now faces a long road to recovery after suffering from an aortic dissection, a major medical catastrophe that saw him being shifted to Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital on life support earlier this August. Aortic dissection is a very serious condition where a tear takes place in the inner layer of the body’s main artery (aorta).
His family released a statement last week saying that Chris and his family remained very appreciative of the immense public support they got as they were dealing with this difficult time. They also appreciated how their privacy has been respected in these circumstances. Cairns was described as “serious but stable” on the 11th of August when he was transferred to Sydney. Last week, he was off life support and was able to talk to his family.
Cairns was known as an ace all-rounder for New Zealand. He came from a cricketing pedigree as his father Lance Cairns also played Test cricket for New Zealand. He has played 62 Tests, 215 One Dayers, and two T20 Internationals for New Zealand between the years 1989 and 2006. He was named as one of Wisden Almanack’s cricketers of the year in 2000.
He was already facing a lot of problems in life due to fixing allegations that followed him throughout his post international cricket career due to his association with the Indian Cricket League (ICL). He was also accused the same by former teammates Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum. He, even, took up cleaning bus stops and driving trucks for the Auckland council to foot his legal bills. He was able to sue Lalit Modi for defamation in 2012 and was acquired of perjury and perversion of justice charges in a London court in 2015.
He was living in Canberra with his wife Melanie and two young children.
