Wheelchair-bound former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns says he is "very lucky to be alive", three months after a medical emergency left him on life support. The 51-year-old is currently recovering from a spinal stroke that left him paralysed waist down, following several complicated surgeries.

"We don't know what happens going forward. I don't know if I'll walk, I don't know if I'll stand. But I may stand. I may walk. The only option is to keep going. The thing is I'm not even just lucky to be (alive). I'm very lucky," Cairns was quoted as saying by Canberra Times. As he opened up on his life post the scare, Cairns was flanked by his wife Melanie.