Majak Daw continues to surprise North Melbourne medical staff as the AFL defender makes good progress with the recovery from his serious injuries.
While there is no guarantee that Daw will play Australian Rules at any level this year, he has achieved a major milestone.
The 28-year-old has progressed from the treadmill and is back running on open ground.
"He's exceeded all our expectations, and we're extremely happy with what he's been able to achieve in this time," North's head physiotherapist Matt Turnbull said.
"We tend to see trends in different players around how they retain their muscle bulk, their flexibility and that sort of thing, but we were surprised at just the speed of how he was able to retain those components."
Daw suffered hip and pelvic fractures in December when he fell from Melbourne's Bolte Bridge.
In an open letter the following month, Daw spoke of the progress he was making physically and mentally and the second chance he has at life.
Last month, North posted video of Daw running on the treadmill for the first time since December.
As he punched the air and grinned broadly, a large group of teammates applauded him.
But North stress that Daw has a long way to go, despite his latest breakthrough.
"He's got a lot more steps in his rehab process," Turnbull said.
"He's returned to running, now he needs to recondition to return to the level of his teammates before taking that next step."
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