New Zealand cricketer and Delhi Daredevils player Jesse Ryder is out of induced coma and is talking to his friends and family, his manager said on Saturday.
Ryder, 28, was brutally attacked by up to four people during a night-out in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Wednesday. The left-handed batsman was assaulted twice that left him with a fractured skull and a collapsed lung. He was rushed to the hospital where he was kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
On Saturday, Ryder emerged from his induced coma around 10 a.m. His manager Aaron Klee said that the cricketer has regained consciousness and is breathing without the assistance of a ventilator. Ryder will remain in ICU for one more day. "Jesse's condition has improved to the extent that he is now out of the induced coma and off the ventilator," Klee said in Christchurch, according to ESPNcricinfo. "Jesse is awake and talking to us, but he is obviously still working through the immediate effects from being in the coma and the drugs the medical team have been using."
Klee said that Ryder did not have any recollection of the attack that left him with severe head injuries. His last memory was his dismissal for a duck in the match played between his Wellington provincial side and Canterbury.
On the fateful night, Ryder had gone with teammates to Aikmans Bar in Merivale. He was attacked outside the bar around 12.30 a.m. The attackers assaulted him a second time within the span of a few minutes. The second attack took place at the entrance of a car park of a McDonalds restaurant across the road. Police have arrested two men in connection with the attack. They will appear in court on 4 April.
Rdyer was on a self-imposed exile from International cricket to deal with "personal issues." He was due to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket scheduled to begin on 3 April in Kolkata. Ryder was bought by Delhi Daredevils for $260,000 during the last auction.
The ghastly attack on Ryder is a major blow to the Daredevils franchise, which already has lost its leading batsman Kevin Pietersen, who was ruled out of IPL over an old knee injury.
