Pretoria - Joost van der Westhuizen, a key player in the Springbok side who won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, has given a moving interview from what he described as his “deathbed”.
Considered by England rival Matt Dawson to not only be one of the finest scrumhalves in history but “probably one of the top 10 players in the history of the game”, the 42-year-old is fighting a losing battle against motor neurone disease.
A devout Christian, Van der Westhuizen says he knows that every day could be his last.
Talking on the phone to the BBC despite the fact that the cruel, debilitating symptoms make it difficult for him to speak, Van der Westhuizen said: “It’s been a rollercoaster from day one and I know I’m on a deathbed from now on.”
“I’ve had my highs and I have had my lows, but no more. I’m a firm believer that there’s a bigger purpose in my life and I am very positive, very happy.”
The former Blue Bulls player first noticed something was wrong at the end of 2008, when he felt weakness in his right arm.
He assumed it was an old rugby injury flaring up and paid little attention to it.
Then, in 2011, he was play fighting in a swimming pool with an old friend, Dr Henry Kelbrick, when the weakness in his arm became even more apparent.
“Kelbrick identified something, so he rang me up later and asked me to come in that afternoon,” said Van der Westhuizen. “He apologised to me, and then he told me what it was.”
The diagnosis was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, one of the most common forms of motor neurone disease. He was told he would have only two years to live.
“First of all I asked him to give me medication, but then he told me about the severity of the condition and that it was terminal.”
Speaking candidly about his life, Van der Westhuizen says the disease has helped him to become a better person. In 2008 he suffered a suspected heart attack and was at the centre of a sex-tape scandal which led to the break-up of his marriage to singer Amor Vittone. He also lost his job as a TV pundit.
“What I did went against all my principles – my life was controlled by my mind and I had to make my mistakes to realise what life is all about,” he said. “I led my life at a hundred miles an hour.
“I’ve learnt that there are too many things that we take for granted and it’s only when you lose them that you realise what it is all about.
“But I know that God is alive in my life and with experience you do learn. I can now talk openly about the mistakes I made because I know my faith won’t give up and it won’t diminish.”
Now his focus is on his family, and in particular his children Jordan, seven, and Kylie, five.
He is also committed to helping people with motor neurone disease through his J9 Foundation. Rugby, he says, has been hugely supportive.
“When I talk about the rugby community I am talking about everyone in the sport and I have to say they have been brilliant,” he says. “Rugby is a big family.” – Daily Mail