Worcester captain Werner Swanepoel admits it feels as if he is leaving "his second family" after being forced to quit the newly-promoted club to continue his recovery from meningitis. The Warriors' skipper will return to his homeland of South Africa next week as he bids to regain his health after a debilitating form of the illness ruled him out of next season's Premiership baptism. The 31-year-old has just endured a nightmare season when he was plagued by injury and illness, culminating in being diagnosed with viral meningitis in February. Initially the club expected the overseas scrum-half to miss four weeks of the season. However, he was warned that his long-term health could suffer if he did not take a complete break from rugby and now faces the possibility of up to three years on the sidelines. But Swanepoel, nicknamed Smiley, has refused to let his spirits drop, and has vowed not only to win his fitness battle but one day to return to the field of play. "My priority is to get better. Rugby will have to take a back seat in my life," said the former South Africa international. "The doctors have said that the worst-case scenario is that this illness could last for three years, but I will recover from this. "It's an extremely rare thing to catch and it came as a real shock. It's like having the flu but with a blinding headache - you feel that your head is going to explode. "Because you feel as if you've got flu you expect to get better in a week, but with this I have already been ruled out of rugby for three months and this week was told I needed more blood tests. "It's really frustrating, but despite everything that has happened I feel I have been lucky. "When you are rushed into hospital and a doctor says you've got meningitis it really strikes fear into you. "And it turned out to be a double scare because my baby daughter Megan, who was just 10 months old, was also rushed in. "In the end she had a viral infection that she picked up from nursery, but I was really worried. I now realise I'm fortunate to still be walking and on my feet. I thank God for that. "Now I must play the waiting game, but I'm used to training hard every day of my life so I'm not enjoying it." Swanepoel admits he was left with little option but to call time on his Worcester career and abandon his long-term dreams of playing in the top flight of English rugby. But he insists he will always cherish the memories of his time at Sixways and will be watching closely to see how the Warriors cope with life amongst the big boys next season. "It's very sad for me. I'm desperately disappointed because after a couple of years playing for Worcester I wanted to play at the very top so much," said Swanepoel. "Unfortunately life throws a lot of curve balls at you and this time I got hit. "In South Africa I used to play in front of 20,000 fans but in Worcester they get about 4,000 so it was more like a second family to me. I made good friends with a lot of the supporters and got to know some friendly faces. "Even though I couldn't play in the final game of the season I was lucky enough to lead the guys out against Pertemps Bees. I got a wonderful reaction from the fans. "To get the applause I did was really moving and shows how much people appreciate what you have done. "I will always remember my time at Worcester with a smile. It's awesome that after 10 years of trying Cecil Duckworth has finally got his club into the promised land." And Swanepoel, who now plans to help run a restaurant he has just acquired and a property management company in South Africa, has not ruled out a dramatic return to Sixways in the future. "I would never say never. You never know what is going to happen in life - I'm living proof of that in the last few months," he said. "I have a good relationship with John Brain and Andy Keast at the club and I've told them to give me a call if they need a scrum-half in a few years. "I will be back. I plan to return to Worcester in February next year and I will take that opportunity to catch up with some old friends and may even be able to watch a game at Sixways. "People often ask me at the moment if my dream is to play rugby again but I tell them my own priority is to get better. To be able to run for 5km again and do what I could do before all this happened is my aim." | 
