Hougaard speaks out: 'Overall, it's going well'
Bulls legend Derick Hougaard has spoken out for the first time on his bout of respiratory pneumonia.
The former Springbok flyhalf spoke exclusively to The Drive with Rob and Roz on Jacaranda FM on Tuesday.
Hougaard spent three weeks in ICU at Steve Biko Hospital in Pretoria in June amid fears that his health would never recover.
But he said, since being discharged from hospital, his health has kept on improving.
"A friend of mine used to say looks can be deceiving, so I might look better than I feel. I am still quite out of breath and I think the pipe in my throat might have left some damage, but overall it's going well.
"All they found in my blood, and that I sometimes use, is a sleeping pill and antidepressant, and its side effect is that it helps you to sleep longer, he said.
"They only picked up opioids in my blood, which is pain medication, which I did use two or three days before, but in my mind it doesn't make sense that that is the reason for the lung collapse."
Known affectionately as the 'Liefling', Hougaard played over 100 games for the Bulls between 2002 and 2008.
In the 2002 Currie Cup final against the Golden Lions, Hougaard broke Naas Botha's 15-year record for points scored in a Currie Cup final, scoring 26 points.
He made his Test debut for the Springboks during the 2003 Rugby World Cup at the age of 20.
Hougaard has partnered with media personality and entrepreneur Rian van Heerden to tell his side of the story in a new documentary 'Liefling van Loftus'.
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