New Zealand cricket legend Chris Cairns is on life support in Australia after suffering a sudden medical episode and collapsing, according to multiple reports.
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New Zealand cricketing legend Chris Cairns is reportedly on life support in Australia after he suffered a serious medical episode and collapsed. As per the reports, the 51-year-old suffered an aortic dissection in Canberra last week, which is a tear inside the body’s main artery. The former cricketer has undergone several medical procedures since the collapse but several news outlets in New Zealand have reported that he has been unresponsive so far. Cairns had collapsed in the Australian city of Canberra and is due to be transferred to another medical facility in Sydney. The cricketer has had a long career with the Black Caps and his loss would be something mourned not just by the Kiwis, but by the whole cricketing world.
The former all-rounder has played a total of 62 Test matches and 215 one-day internationals for New Zealand from 1989-2006. In his 17-year long career, Cairns scored 3320 runs in Test cricket at an average of over 33 and took 218 wickets at an average of 29.40. In ODIs, he scored 4950 runs at 29.46 and took 201 wickets at 32.80. He is a second-generation cricketer as he is the son of former New Zealand all-rounder Lance Cairns. Chris was also named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the year in 2000.
Despite having a successful career in the sport, Cairns was the subject of a few serious allegations after his retirement from the international level. He had allegations of match-fixing in India as captain of the Chandigarh Lions in the defunct Indian Cricket League in 2008. The cricketer, however, denied all allegations and fought a number of legal battles to get himself out of trouble. It got so serious that he had to take a job with the Auckland Council to drive trucks and clean bus shelters to foot the legal bills.
Former Kiwi pacer Dion Nash, who is also a good friend of Cairns, said that he was working very hard to support his family at the time.
“He (Cairns) is trying really hard and supporting his family the best way he can. He’s not moping around, he’s showing guts and doing hard work by cleaning bus shelters,” said Nash.
“All I can do is support him, but as a friend, it is really hard to watch his name being dragged through the mud with no conclusion in sight. He’s a champion guy and he will come through this stronger,” Nash added.
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