"Being able to swim and kick my legs today was the most free I’ve ever felt" - Chris Cairns on his recovery status

Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns is currently on the road to recovery after suffering a stroke in his spine a couple of months back.

On Wednesday, Cairns was able to use a hydrotherapy pool for the first time, standing unaided in the water. The former Kiwi cricketer described the feeling as "the most free I've ever felt".

Sharing a couple of images from the pool session on Twitter, Chris Cairns wrote:

"Best day of rehab yet. First time using the hydrotherapy pool, first time standing unaided and to walk/float my way up the pool! Man! I’ve heard freedom is the oxygen of the soul….being able to swim and kick my legs today was the most free I’ve ever felt."

Chris Cairns suffered a collapse in August and was immediately transferred to Sydney for heart surgery to combat a tear in the inner layer of the body's main artery. He subsequently suffered a spinal stroke resulting in leg paralysis.

The Black Caps cricketer is currently undergoing rehabilitation at a specialist hospital in Canberra.

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“I’m very lucky to be here" - Chris Cairns

Cairns considers himself lucky to be around his family members to celebrate Christmas after his aortic dissection that resulted in a spinal stroke. The cricketer had to undergo four open-heart surgeries before doctors were able to bring the celebrated all-rounder out of danger.

“I’m very lucky to be here, that’s without a shadow of a doubt,” Cairns told Stuff.

“The aortic dissection that I suffered has a pretty high mortality rate. In those first stages, one in four people die from it. And then brain damage was also pretty high on the agenda off the back of the things that were occurring. I consider I’m ahead, regardless, of where I find myself off the back of the complications of the spinal stroke," he added.

Chris Cairns is expected to leave the University of Canberra for a two-day break and travel to his in-laws to celebrate Christmas as he slowly tries to return to normal life again.