AT DEATH'S DOOR

Ex-Bok legend Derick Hougaard is slowly recovering after his lung collapsed and he had to be ventilated

-  ISABEL VENTER

FOR nearly two weeks he had to tackle "the toughest game of his life", struggling through a medically induced coma and unable to breathe on his own.

Day in and day out his loved ones waited to see if he'd ever make it off the ventilator that was keeping him alive, unsure of when they'd see things take a turn.

The relief was palpable when Derick Hougaard (40) opened his eyes. Afrikaans singer Nádine (41), his partner of about six years, was at his side and says he's lucid and there's no sign of brain damage.

"He cried the first time he opened his eyes, Nádine tells us. "I was emotional, he was emotional - and then he cried."

She recalls the first thing she said to him. "I asked him, 'Do you know how many people are praying for you? How many are sending their love? And how many people are looking forward to seeing you again?"

Her voice trembles. "He just whispered, I'm glad".

Nádine had rushed the former Springbok to hospital on 10 June when she found him unconscious in his flat.

Complications caused Derick's left lung to collapse on 18 June, followed by the bottom part of his right lung collapsing two days later, she says.

His illness was "pneumonia due to aspiration", as doctors explained it to her. This happens when contents of the stomach end up in the airway and cause pneumonia and inflammation.

Her "Dirks", as she calls him, was "at death's door", but doctors still haven't established why his lungs weren't functioning normally, she adds.

"He's still struggling and his lungs hurt.

He's still having trouble. He's off the ventilator, which means he's breathing on his own.

"But in the two weeks he was on a ventilator, his lungs became exhausted - the muscles no longer work properly because the machine was breathing for him.