Former AB unable to walk
Ex-all Black flanker Adam Thomson has been unable to walk after being struck down by a mystery illness in Japan.
Thomson, 35, has been in hospital in Tokyo for over a week with doctors struggling to identify the problem that has given Thomson ‘‘excruciating pain’’.
The 29-test All Black was rushed to the A&E department in the middle of the night.
Thomson’s partner, Jessie Gurunathan, said there was still no official diagnosis, but Thom- son’s illness was suspected to be ‘‘a severe infection that’s caused serious internal inflammation & excruciating pain’’.
Thomson mustered enough humour in a post on his Instagram account to write: ‘‘It was touch and go for awhile [sic] and we almost had to amputate but to the credit of this crack Japanese medical team they were able to save the moustache.’’
He added: ‘‘... it’s been a tough week full of unexpected challenges. It’s going to be a long road to get back on my feet but I’m up for it’’. Thomson played almost a century of Super matches for the Highlanders, Reds and Rebels and first played in Tokyo in 2013.
In 2008, Thomson appeared in court charged with assaulting his former partner - children’s programme presenter Joanna Holley following a domestic incident. The charges were later dropped.
Gurunathan said the illness gave her the ‘‘biggest fright in the 6 years we’ve been doing life together.’’