Derick Hougaard breathing on his own again: 'He is whispering and communicating'

Former Springbok flyhalf Derick Hougaard is breathing on his own again as he continues his road to recovery.

It's been over two weeks since Hougaard was rushed to Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria. He was in a coma and battled respiratory pneumonia.

Hougaard, 40, woke up from his coma late last week and is now breathing on his own after the ventilator was removed.

News24 has learnt that Hougaard is able to speak and shows no signs of brain damage. It's also been established that he had no alcohol, drugs or sleeping pills in his system.

According to Hougaard's partner, singer Nádine, the former Bulls playmaker had only slight traces of pain medication in his system.

"He is off the ventilators and has been breathing on his own for the past 36 hours," Nádine told News24 on Tuesday morning.

"He is still getting oxygen support, but he is breathing on his own. It is difficult for his lungs having been on a ventilator for more than two weeks, but that is part of the process. He said to me yesterday that it was hard, but we are extremely grateful.

"They'll do scans, but Derick is communicating. He can't speak properly because his voice has been affected by the pipes for the ventilation, but he is whispering and communicating. His short- and long-term memory seems to be intact. I asked him to recite the alphabet to me and he smiled, and he did. He still has his sense of humour."

READ | Meyer shocked by Hougaard's illness but confident of bounce-back: 'He's always been a fighter'

Nádine said there had been "quite a bit of false reports" about what had been in Hougaard's system and what could have caused his hospitalisation. 

"With all the reports and tests they have done in hospital, there was no trace of alcohol in Derick's blood.