More than a month after being rushed to a Japanese hospital in "excruciating pain", former All Black and Highlanders loose forward Adam Thomson is still struggling to walk and his playing future remains uncertain.
Thomson was admitted to Tsukuba Memorial hospital in Tokyo on December 19, with an illness that left him unable to walk for days and initially had doctors baffled.
He was later diagnosed with lumbar discitis — an infection in the intervertebral disc space.
At the time, Thomson's representative Brooke Howard-Smith said a "full recovery is expected" and he was expected to return to training within a month, while Thomson's partner, reality TV star Jessie Gurunathan, described the 29-test All Black's setback as "one hell of an ordeal" and "the biggest fright".
However, on Friday, Howard-Smith said that the 35-year-old's recovery was ongoing.
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"We're hoping to have more information next week, but Adam had some blood tests come back yesterday and they were clear of infection," Howard-Smith told the New Zealand Herald.
"At this stage, it looks like it'll be another one to two weeks in hospital for him before he can get out of there.
"As I said, we're hoping to have more information next week, but he's due to come back to Auckland to continue his recovery back in New Zealand next month."
The flanker, who represented the All Blacks between 2008 and 2012, posted an update of his recovery last week, saying: "Everyday that you can walk yourself to the bathroom is a good day. The first time I tried this I collapsed with my pants around my ankles . . . "
Thomson left New Zealand at the end of the 2012 Super Rugby season after 68 appearances for the Highlanders to take up a contract with the Canon Eagles in Japan.
He returned to Super Rugby in 2015 and '16, playing for the Reds and Rebels respectively, before going back to Japan, linking back up with the Canon Eagles.
In 2017 he joined the NEC Green Rockets in the Japanese Top League.
As well as taking the field for the All Blacks, Thomson represented New Zealand at secondary schools, under-19, under-21 and Sevens levels.
