Jonah Lomu

When I was playing I felt tired all the time. My recovery period was a lot longer than the other players. They'd be ok after an hour - I'd have to stay in bed till the next session.

It's been a long road back to health and fitness for me. I am just glad to have been given the opportunity to do what I love most.

It was like falling off a building and suddenly, bang, you hit the bottom. The first time it happened was on an ordinary day at home. I was taking down some curtains. I took one step, turned around, took another step and then I fell and hit my head hard on the rowing machine.

I was this guy who'd been racing around down there, on that field in 1999, running straight over people, scoring tries, winning games, having fun. And I ended up so sick I couldn't even run past a little baby.

I thought about dying whenever I got bad news about other people.

I was on dialysis for 18 months before the transplant, so it was important I tried to look ahead to days like my comeback this Saturday. You need those big goals to drive you on.

I am very excited to be here in Wales and look forward to putting on the Cardiff Blues shirt.

Each haka has its own interpretation, but you have to make sure you are in unison with your team-mates; the haka should be a proper war cry.

Looking back, my whole life seems so surreal. I didn't just turn up on the doorstep playing rugby; I had to go through a whole lot of things to get there.

The biggest thing for me is just to get out on that field. Just to do that will be incredible.

I always say to people that you have never seen the best of me, and that's what I mean - I've never been fully fit.

I was diagnosed with the illness right before the 1995 World Cup.

How do I take a step? How do I lift my foot off the ground, move it through the air a little bit and then bring it down? I had to teach myself to walk again.

I have crooked toes from wearing boots that didn't fit me because that's all I could afford as a kid.

It's a really exciting time to be involved in Welsh rugby.

It annoys me when people who don't know what they're talking about boo the referee.

I was only operating at about 80% of my capacity.

Until 1998, I worked in marketing at ASB bank. I loved it.

I went to a boarding school with a strong Maori tradition, where we were taught all about the haka.

For me to get through the toughest periods in my life, I had to look within to find the energy to do it. I don't give up. Never have. Never will.

Towards the end of 2003 it was hard to get through training - and the darkest point was when a doctor told me there was a possibility I could end up in a wheelchair.

It was in 2003 that I realised there was no choice but to have dialysis treatment - by the time of the World Cup that year, I could barely walk. A year later, I finally had a kidney transplant.

I have a stab wound on my left hip and one on my thigh and a slash mark across my right calf. I have a bottle stab wound on my left calf.