The 33-year-old rugby player Steven Kitshoff, who won the Rugby World Cup twice with South Africa, had suffered a serious neck injury and announced his retirement as a result.
In September 2024, while playing for Western Province in a Currie Cup match, he sustained the injury and later stated, “I was two millimeters from death.”
A key part of South Africa’s 2019 Japan and 2023 France World Cup-winning squads, Kitshoff expressed his disappointment, saying:
“It is obviously incredibly disappointing for my career to end in this way, but unfortunately, the risk to my wellbeing was simply too high.”
The 83-cap international had played for top clubs such as Ulster and Stormers. The Stormers, the club where he both started and ended his career, released a statement regarding his injury:
“After undergoing initial conservative therapy, the decision was taken to have stabilising surgery.”
“Following an extensive rehabilitation process, he has been left with significantly reduced rotation of his neck, and the advice from a specialist neurosurgeon was that there would be a high risk of another injury should he continue playing.”
South Africa’s head coach, Rassie Erasmus, spoke with great respect about Kitshoff’s character:
“He is a true team man, and he earned enormous respect from his team-mates and the coaches with his high work ethic, drive to be the best he can on the field, and his down-to-earth nature.”
“He will always remain a warrior and a fine ambassador of what the Springboks stand for, and we wish him luck as he begins this new chapter in his life.”