Illness
In May 2011 van der Westhuizen sought medical assistance after difficulty with slurred speech and the loss of muscle power. Tests have subsequently confirmed that he is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) a form of motor neuron disease. Van der Westhuizen's doctor Jody Pearl told South African newspaper The Beeld: "Joost does indeed suffer from ALS, which gives him an 80 per cent chance to live between two and five years."
ALS is incurable. With symptoms including breathing difficulties, speech problems and paralysis, it is fatal in the majority of cases.
Read more about this topic: Joost Van Der Westhuizen
Famous quotes containing the word illness:
“Thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“One always has the idea of a stupid man as perfectly healthy and ordinary, and of illness as making one refined and clever and unusual.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“To you illness is negligible. You have learned that you can dominate yourself. You know that your body lags, but your soul proceeds upon its triumphant way.”
—Alice Foote MacDougall (1867–1945)