Every step is about hope. Thirteen steps, to be more precise. Every single one of them and every bead of sweat on Chris Cairns' forehead represents hope.
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It's why he straps himself into a $70,000 exoskeleton machine at the University of Canberra Hospital to try to learn how to walk again.
It's also why the New Zealand cricket great can crack jokes despite six months of hell, during which he almost died when doctors discovered a tear in one of the main arteries of his heart, had a spinal stroke and was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
"Now I'm just trying to avoid electrocution and drowning," Cairns grins. "I have to be honest, sometimes I don't know the body I'm in, I'm still coming to terms with it. But you have to keep finding a purpose."
But Cairns says the most important aspect of his personal hope is knowing that sharing his journey, and being a Canberra exoskeleton guinea pig, might give others the same glimmer he can see.
Cairns is taking the next steps in his journey to recovery, securing a two-week trial to use a Keeogo machine to retrain his brain and his legs.
It's part of the hospital's long-term plans to introduce robotic rehabilitation in the capital, with machines ranging from the $70,000 model Cairns is using to a $700,000 high-tech system to give people a greater quality of life.
Cairns has accepted he may never walk again but there remains a flicker of hope when using the machine, which picks up on the slightest of muscle movement and assists patients with post-stroke impairment.
"It was strange. I had to learn to walk again and I still don't know if I'll be able to do it because I have to get my muscles back," Cairns said.
"The fact that I can be upright and start the process to see if I can do it, that's the best thing. It's hope. That's what it gives you and you have a purpose.
"As long as I'm keeping on going ... even walking here today, compared to last week, there's improvement.
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"I actually started to get a bit of a flicker in my butt. I had to ask my wife [Mel] to feel my butt ... these devices might help you stimulate things you can't do. It pushes you and as long as you get the flicker, that's the key. You've got something to work with."
Cairns' life changed in August last year. He was feeling ill at home and decided to go to hospital for a check-up.
A scan discovered an aortic tear, and he was rushed to Sydney for life-saving surgery. At some point during his recovery, he had a spinal stroke and lost almost all feeling and use of his legs.
An Australian-based Keeogo distributor saw a video of Cairns using a walking frame in the early stages of his recovery and reached out to see if the champion all-rounder was interested in using the machine.
Cairns has been strapping the machine to his legs almost every day since, walking laps of the rehabilitation centre without the help of a physiotherapist and taking the machine home to see how it would apply to everyday life.
Unbeknown to Cairns, the hospital has been working on a plan for the past 18 months to generate funding to purchase its own exoskeleton machine.
"Something like this is the difference between someone spending their life in a wheelchair or walking," Cairns' physiotherapist Alanna Shepherd said.
"It can allow someone to walk, to do stairs, kneel, crouch and participate in everyday activities."
University of Canberra Hospital director of allied health Todd Kaye added: "We have some grand plans and visions around establishing and developing a robotics lab.
"This is a kicking off point. We never expected this or thought it would come like this, but we're fortunate it has. Chris has been a great advocate ... this isn't how we thought it would start, but it's brilliant."
The settings on Cairns' exoskeleton can be adjusted to suit his strength and muscle memory.
The lightweight Ironman-style suit is strapped to his legs and waist, with motors at the knees to help lift his leg and move forward.
"It's scaffolding that supports him to do his natural [movement]. It's not adding anything ... it gives him a boost to what he needs," Shepherd said.
"It's the equivalent of about two or three physiotherapists helping. Without the exoskeleton he might find it difficult to stand, but it holds him in that position.
"We are almost brain retraining, sometimes. If the robotics are helping him stand or walk, he is remapping what his legs do."
Cairns adds: "At the moment it's the cost prohibitive nature of robotics which is affordable at an institutional level, but even then it's not cheap.
"It's something for the future ... to trial this, it's great. It really is."
Cairns said he had been overwhelmed by the support from around the world after opening up about his aortic dissection and stroke for the first time last November.
People have reached out to wish him well, while others have spoken to him about their own struggles after similar illnesses.
"I tend to reflect on that when I'm having a really crap day," Cairns said.
"Because the stories people send through are quite uplifting. We can all fight on days when it's going great.
"But when it's not, it's nice to reflect on what other people have gone through. It lends a hand when you need it.
"Do I want to walk again? Yes, but I can't say if that's in a year or two years or three. If you can think it you can can potentially manifest it, but don't put a timeframe on it.
"It's about small gains. That would be my only message to people going through it. Don't look at it result-wise, just get up daily and go to work."