had video evidence of him engaging in sex play with a mystery blonde and snorting a white substance. Charmaine Weavers claimed to have had an affair with him in an interview with YOU magazine. His marriage to Vittone fell apart. At the end of March he lost his job as a television presenter with the South African broadcaster SuperSport. On 28 June 2009, he was admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack, although he was discharged soon afterward when tests found no evidence of heart problems. A panic attack was suspected. On 1 November, coinciding with the release of his autobiography Spieëlbeeld ("Man in the mirror"), van der Westhuizen confessed to being in the controversial sex video and apologised for lying. In a telephone interview in August 2013 with BBC Sports correspondent James Peacock, he spoke about facing up to the controversy. "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, I led my life at a hundred miles an hour. I've learned that there are too many things that we take for granted in life 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. It's only when you go through what I am going through that you understand that life is generous." Illness and death In May 2011, van der Westhuizen's publicist confirmed that he had been diagnosed with motor neuron disease. Some weakness had first been noticed in his right arm near the end of 2008, but he had put this down to the aftereffects of an old rugby injury. A few months later, Dr Kelbrick, his personal doctor and a family friend, noticed his right arm weakness and arranged for tests. At that time, Van der Westhuizen was given between two and five years to live. An August 2013 BBC Sport report illustrated the progress of his disease – by then, Van der Westhuizen was using a wheelchair, and his speech had grown increasingly slurred. He told reporter James Peacock,I realise every day could be my last. It's been a rollercoaster