The New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder has come out of his induced coma and is talking again.
Ryder's manager Aaron Klee says the 28-year-old was taken off the drugs which had kept him under and that he was able to breathe again without the help of the respirator he was on for his collapsed lung.
Ryder was assaulted outside a bar in Christchurch in the early hours of Thursday morning. He has no memory of the attack.
Klee says there's a big battle ahead for Ryder to get back to full health but the progress is positive, though it's still not known how long the 28-year-old will be in hospital.
