The retired Jaco van der Westhuyzen is a well-known South African rugby union player who represented several franchises across several major rugby playing nations, including England, South Africa, and Japan.
The above photo has him celebrating with his Bulls teammates after winning the Super Rugby Championship, which is an annual international tournament then featuring professional club sides from the three nations of Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.
The reason behind Jaco’s Jesus is King shirt is because he had a potential career-ending injury while playing in the Currie Cup (another rugby union competition). The injury was severe and would very likely have ruled him out from playing any more rugby. However, after Jaco visiting the controversial Nigerian Prophet T. B. Joshua, the pastor at The Synagogue Church of All Nations in Nigeria, he was purportedly fully healed from his leg injuries after the Prophet prayed a prayer of healing for him. Eyewitness camera footage of this event is available on YouTube. Jaco later explained to a local newspaper, the Observer, that he,
“had just broken into the Springbok team when I ruptured my posterior cruciate ligament playing against Western Province one Sunday in August 2000. The doctor took X-rays and said I needed to have an operation that Wednesday. I was really down, because I desperately wanted to go on the end-of-year Bok tour.”
“I was skeptical at first and I wasn’t too sure about the miracles. I read about them in the Bible but I thought: ‘Can this be true?’ Still, I decided not to have the operation and to take a leap of faith instead.”
Jaco found himself in a healing service of roughly 300 people gathered in a “healing line.” The Prophet Joshua walked down the line, identifying illnesses, and when he arrived at Jaco,
“he said I should remove my leg brace. He looked at me and it was like he had x-ray vision, like he could see immediately what was wrong with my knee. Moving his hands around as if he was tugging a rope, he seemed to pull out all the dirt and other stuff that was in my knee. Then he said to me: ‘Stand up and run.’ The brace had been on for weeks and running should have been impossible. Well, I trusted my faith and started to run – and at full speed. There was no pain.”
According to Jaco, this was a miracle. He managed a striking recovery from a potentially career-ending leg injury to go on to again play his sport. This is the reason he boldly displayed his Jesus is King shirt after his team won the Super Rugby competition.
Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy 
[…] Thirdly, the reality of miracles today is worth noting. Craig Keener has investigated miracle healings from around the world and compiled them into a 2-volume set. I have read much of the book, and it is incredibly long, and densely packed with miracle testimonies and corroboration. For example, Keener interviewed Mooneyham who reported that 80% of a village was converted to Christianity in response to a miraculous healing. Another case saw a man completely healed from paralysis after prayer (Währisch-Oblau, “Healthy,” 89). An atheist and others come to Christ after witnessing a girl being healed (Oblau, “Healing,” 314), a university administrator was healed after prayer (Wesley, Stories, 37). In one interview Keener had with an eyewitness “most of the village” became Christians after a preacher begun healing people in the village center. Another account independently reported to Keener by two individuals confirmed that an atheist and his family became Christians after his wife, and the childrens mother was healed from cancer as a result of prayer. Keener spoke with a man called Wimalasiri who ended up planting a church in his area after his foot that had been swelling for two years was miraculously healed after prayer. A famous rugby player I watched play was miraculously healed from a career ending leg injury, and after receiving prayer he went on to play for his professional club and win the championship (see testimony here) […]
[…] may be accessed here at my blog – see the cases of the famous South African rugby player Jaco, as well as Kayla […]
[…] people who have witnessed supernatural healing and even exorcisms. I’ve seen well evidenced cases reported (also here & here) on, and in videos & documentaries. The study of the historical […]
[…] a remarkable, and well documented, healing miracle of a well-known rugby player in South Africa, Jaco. Stephen had not heard about this and as soon as I mentioned that it was caught on tape, and […]
[…] cases in terms of evidence. I shared the incredible story of the healing of a well-known local sports player. Stephen shared one case in which a boy by the name of Chris Gunderson was cured from an incurable […]
[…] tubes feeding him the nutrients he needed to survive. A South African professional rugby player, Jaco van der Westhuyzen, after rupturing his posterior cruciate ligament ran out of a church healing service after being […]
[…] fit well within the documentary: the case of Chris Gunderson, former professional rugby player Jaco, and the atheist anthropologist Bruce Grindal, and the evangelist Heidi Baker, to name a few. At […]
[…] peer-reviewed science journal, exist. Other striking cases would be the healing of rugby player Jaco van der Westhuizen and Chris Gunderson. Perhaps the strongest case for the reality of miracles to come from work a […]