Former Blackcaps star Chris Cairns continues to make encouraging progress in his rehabilitation from a major medical event which left him fighting for his life.
Cairns, 51, is on the road to recovery from paralysis, which was the result of a spinal stroke following major heart surgery in August.
On Wednesday, he took to social media to provide an update on the latest milestone in his rehabilitation, standing unaided for the first time in a hydrotherapy pool in his "best day of rehab yet".
Attempting to rebuild the strength in his legs after they were paralysed, Cairns described the experience as "the most free I've ever felt".
"Best day of rehab yet," Cairns wrote on Twitter.
"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."
Cairns was named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the year in 2000, and is the son of former New Zealand all-rounder Lance Cairns.
Cairns has the seventh most sixes in test cricket history, behind McCullum, Adam Gilchrist, Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag and Brian Lara.
The New Zealander sits among some the games greats to record the 1000 runs / 100 wickets combination in tests, alongside West Indian legend Sir Garfield Sobers and others including Jacques Kallis, Imran Khan, Sir Ian Botham, and New Zealand greats Sir Richard Hadlee and Daniel Vettori.
