'Difficult, upsetting and concerning': Chris Cairns' wife breaks silence
Chris Cairns and wife Melanie. Photo / Getty
Chris Cairns’ wife Melanie has spoken out over her husband’s condition as the New Zealand cricket great fights for his life in hospital in Australia.
It’s understood Cairns, 51, collapsed, having suffered a massive heart attack last week in Canberra – resulting in an aortic dissection, a tear in the inner layer of the body’s main artery.
Melanie Cairns today confirmed that her husband has been transferred to a Sydney hospital to undergo further surgery.
“As has now been widely reported in the media, Chris suffered a major medical event in Canberra late last week. He initially underwent surgery in Canberra, but the seriousness of his condition is such that he has now been transferred to St Vincent’s hospital in Sydney, where he has undergone further cardiovascular surgery,” Melanie Cairns said in a statement.
“Chris’ family and friends are heartened by the respectful and warm manner in which this terrible news has been reported, and received by the pubic, both in New Zealand and around the world, and thanks everyone for their warm wishes, prayers, and kind words.
“For now, no further statements will be made regarding Chris’ situation, and the Cairns family asks that people continue to respect their privacy as they deal with this difficult, upsetting and concerning situation.”
Cairns, the son of Black Cap legend Lance Cairns, was a right-hand batsman and fast-medium bowler. He was known as one of the finest all-rounders of his generation.
Cairns has been living and working in Canberra with his wife and their children for several years.
He has been the chief executive of SmartSportz, a company specialising in virtual sport.
Cairns had to rebuild his life after walking out of Southwark Crown Court in London in 2015 after being found not guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice charges in relation to match-fixing allegations.
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The allegations took a huge toll on the cricketer’s life.
He described his reputation as “completely scorched” from the saga and spoke of going through “hell” during the perjury trial.
He was first named as one of 11 “tainted” cricketers in the now defunct Indian Cricket League in a 2009 email between International Cricket Council investigators.
Cairns took part in the ICL, which ran for two seasons in India from 2007 to 2009.
But in 2010, Indian millionaire businessman Lalit Modi, a former boss of the Indian Premier League, posted a tweet saying Cairns had been removed from the player auction for the IPL due to a “past record of match fixing”.
Cairns quickly launched a defamation case against Modi in London.
Two years later in 2012, Cairns won the libel trial and was awarded damages from Modi.
Yet his troubles weren’t over as he faced allegations from fellow New Zealand cricketers Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum that he had tried to recruit them to fix matches.
It was not until Cairns was found not guilty of perjury in relation to match fixing allegations in 2015 in a London court that he was able to finally clear his name.
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