Joost is up to the ice challenge

21 August 2014 - 02:03 By Gabi Mbele
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RUGGER-ED: Former Springbok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen accepts his Ice Bucket Challenge yesterday after his nomination by the Jacaranda FM breakfast team. With him are members of his J9 Foundation - Claire Kaye-Grobler, Joost's brother Pieter and Johan Visser
RUGGER-ED: Former Springbok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen accepts his Ice Bucket Challenge yesterday after his nomination by the Jacaranda FM breakfast team. With him are members of his J9 Foundation - Claire Kaye-Grobler, Joost's brother Pieter and Johan Visser
Image: KEVIN SUTHERLAND

What do the names Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Gareth Cliff and Joost van der Westhuizen have in common - besides fame?

They have all been drenched in freezing water for the latest celebrity craze, the Ice Bucket Challenge, to raise funds for motor neuron disease.

The drive has hit South Africa, thanks to Jacaranda FM caller Dewaldt Huysamen, whose Ice Bucket Challenge was accepted by Jacaranda FM breakfast show host Riaan van Heerden.

The radio DJ in turn nominated former Springbok scrumhalf Van der Westhuizen and his J9 Foundation to accept the challenge.

"We didn't clear this with the doctor but we know he'll be fine," said Van der Westhuizen's business partner David Thorpe.

Chuckling through it all Van der Westhuizen, clad in shorts, J9 Foundation sweater, snorkel and flippers, completed the challenge before nominating the "Springbok, All Blacks and Australian rugby teams".

The challenge is said to have started in the US state of Massachusetts earlier this year, conceived by Pat Quinn, who was diagnosed with the disease in March last year. Quinn then dared family and friends who then posted their videos on social media. It has since gone viral.

If a nomination is accepted and completed within 24 hours, the participant donates $10. But if the challenge is refused a nominee must donate $100 towards MND.

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