Joost says Amor broke his heart

Cape Town - "I'm busy making videos that I will leave behind for my children. They can look at it when they're eighteen to remind them of their father," Joost van der Westhuizen said on Wednesday on kykNET's TV programme Kwêla.

"In those videos I say the things that I would've wanted to teach them if I had time," the former Springbok captain said. "Life is (now) just about quality."

Van der Westhuizen was diagnosed with terminal motor neuron disease (MND) last year.

He already speaks with difficulty, drags his tongue and doesn't fully pronounce his words.

He has made peace with the fact that his life expectancy is between one and five years.

Keep on smiling

"For now, I'm only still playing in the first half of my hardest game ever. The game will become much harder later, I know. But I'll take it on."

He said it saddens him that he doesn't have the support of Amor Vittone, his estranged wife.

"I really would've wanted her support now, because she is the person whom I've loved the most. She broke my heart.

"I would like to see my children more often. If Amor for example has to go away for weekends when the children are with her, she leaves them with her parents. I would like to have them with me. I do not want to fight, but it's a thing that our legal people (with a view to divorce) are still sorting out."

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In the meantime he has also started the J9 Foundation (J for Joost and 9 for the number he wore on his back as a Springbok). The foundation's goal is to help other MND sufferers who have no support system.

"Currently I am, despite my illness and the fact that some of my muscles have already started to give in, in a very good place in my life. I live one day at a time. And I keep on smiling."