DEAN COHEN

“I was very moved by the passing of Joost, like the rest of the adoring rugby public. It has more meaning than most to me because of the fact that my late father passed away from complications related to ALS/Motor Neurons Disease. My father was diagnosed with MND in April of 1995 and passed away on my sister Sharoni’s birthday, 3 January 1996.

“I wrote an Ode/tribute to Joost that mentions the connection between him, my father and other ALS sufferers,” says Dean, “I feel very strongly about educating the public about this devastating disease and I hope that this will drive the sentiment to do more to assist in helping those living with and dying from MND.

“Please G-d someday Medical Science finds a cure for this and other debilitating and fatal diseases,” he writes.

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Dean’s Tribute

In the next few days much will be written and many a You-Tube video played and re-played; documenting the legend and the prodigious talent that was Joost van der Westhuizen

Jooste passed away yesterday from complications related to Motor Neuron’s Disease (MND). This horrific disease is a neurological disorder that attacks the Motor Neurons or nerves that originate from the Brain and Spinal Cord; with the net effect being a gradual atrophying of muscle, leading to a wasting away of body.

MND/ALS does not discriminate where it attacks; typically leaving the patient permanently incapacitated. One of the most devastating effects is that after robbing the patient of movement and speech; in some perverse act of mercy it leaves their mind intact. The patient becomes a prisoner in their own body. In truth, as with most debilitating diseases, there are two victims here, the patient and the family.

Joost was a remarkable rugby player, however I think his greatest achievement to date was how he scrummed-down with this devastating disease, relentlessly fighting along the side-lines, with grace and sheer determination to help those suffering with ALS. His tireless efforts to highlight the plight of many a Motor Neuron Sufferer and the desire to educate the public about its devastating effects on patient and family culminated in the formation of the J9 Foundation.

Watching the interviews that he conducted over the last few years; it became apparent that the disease robbed him of his once powerfully athletic frame, only to reward him with another; a renewed sense of purpose. He seemed to re-invent himself as a champion crusader for those not necessarily in the lime-light, fighting this dreaded and fatal disease.

I feel even more strongly about the passing of this great man than most; because in 1995 when I watched the now famous Bok victory in the RWC Final at the Ellis Park Stadium, I sat with my late father, who by then was in the advanced stages of ALS/Lou Gehrig’s/MND. He was diagnosed with ALS in April of 1995 and passed away on 3 January 1996.

In my mind a strange and poignant connection was forged between these two men who had never and would never meet. The Bok victory that day, was for me one of the most meaningful days in my life. The passing years have done little to diminished the memory and emotions that that momentous day still evoke.

The significance and impact of that day and its galvanising effect on our new, fledgling and fragile democracy, was undeniably palpable. The true impact of that day, for me, was that I got to share it with two heroes; one a much-loved and celebrated sportsman the world over and the other, my father and personal hero, fighting his own quiet battle on the side-lines.

Having been diagnosed with MND in 2011 and fighting a battle bravely borne; Joost ultimately succumbed to Motor-Neurons Disease on 6 February 2017.  My condolences go out to Amore, his children, family and friends. He proved to be as much a giant off the field as he was on it.