Canberra: Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns revealed on Instagram on Saturday that he has been diagnosed with bowel cancer. He had already suffered from a spinal stroke following emergency heart surgery.
Cairns was just recently released from the hospital after five months as he underwent a life-saving heart procedure and then was paralysed by a stroke.
“I was told yesterday I have bowel cancer… big shock and not what I was expecting after what was supposed to be a routine checkup,” Cairns wrote on Instagram.
“So, as I prepare for another round of conversations with surgeons and specialists, I keep remembering how lucky I am to be here in the first place… and how blessed I am to have all that I do in my life.
“… Another fight ahead, but here’s hoping this one is a swift uppercut and over in the first round.”
Cairns has played 62 Tests, 215 one-day internationals, and two Twenty20 matches for New Zealand between 1989-2006.