Joost has died, foundation confirms
Joost van der Westhuizen loses six-year battle with Motor Neuron Disease
SOUTH AFRICAN rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen on Monday afternoon lost a six-year battle with Motor Neuron Disease (MND).
This according report from Sport24, who quoted Blue Bulls CEO Barend van Graan as confirming that the 45-year-old had passed away.
Van der Westhuizen was admitted to hospital in a critical condition on Saturday, his J9 Foundation confirmed on Facebook.
The foundation also posted a short while ago confirmed Joost passed away quietly at home surrounded by his family.
‘Joost has been much better today however he is tired and been resting this afternoon.
Thank you for the continued support for him and his family,’ the page posted Sunday afternoon.
His condition was earlier today described as stabilised.
Van der Westhuizen was diagnosed with MND, a disease which causes the degeneration of cells that control muscle movements, in 2011 and given two and a half years to live.
Despite later being confined to a wheelchair and having to use a computer to communicate, Van der Westhuizen launched the charity foundation J9 to raise awareness about the disease.
In his career he played 89 tests for the Springboks between 1993 and 2003 scoring 38 tries and is still regarded as one of the best scrumhalves to ever play the game.
Social media erupted shortly after the news broke on Monday, the hashtags #RIPJoost and #joostvanderwesthuizen as well as ‘Former Springbok’ rocketing to the top of trending lists nationwide on Twitter:
The great Joost is gone. He was a player whose giant shadow will loom over the game forever. Go gently into the good night, J9.#RIPJoost pic.twitter.com/V3SwlRoea9
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) February 6, 2017
RIP Joost … You are a legend and will be missed. pic.twitter.com/NmB0V7cfg3
— Chris Fourie (@chris_fourie) February 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/SARugbyTravel/status/828579548711227392
