A devastating tragedy has struck former Springbok rugby player Jannie du Plessis, who has lost his one-year-old son to a drowning accident.
The tragedy occurred in the swimming pool of Du Plessis’s home on Tuesday, which also happened to be Du Plessis’s 39th birthday, and was broken on social media by Toks van der Linde, also a former Bok.
A heartbroken Van der Linde called for prayers for the Du Plessis family, who held a baptism ceremony for the child on Sunday.
Du Plessis, a medical doctor, is the older brother of another famous Springbok, Bismarck du Plessis, and played 70 Test matches for South Africa between 2007 and 2015, many of them alongside Bismarck.
Jannie is still playing rugby, for the Lions in Johannesburg, and Lions CEO Rudolf Straeuli has said that the union is struggling to deal with the horrible news.
“We, as a Lions family, aren't doing well,” Straeuli told Sport24. “I can confirm that this tragedy took place. We are all devastated.
“As I'm sure everyone can understand, Jannie and his family now need to be left alone to process this tragedy. We offer our full support to him and kindly request everyone to keep them in their thoughts and prayers.”
IOL Sport