Rob Burrow’s emotional wife Lindsey pays tribute to rugby league great and says ‘he made the world a better place’

By Grace Macaskill

Courageous rugby legend Rob Burrow has died of motor neurone disease.

The 41-year-old went from one of the fiercest rugby players in Britain to being confined to a wheelchair barely able to move after his diagnosis in December 2019.

Leeds Rhino player Rob, who was capped 15 times for England and five for Great Britain, leaves behind wife Lindsey and children Macy, Maya, and Jackson.

The couple were teenage sweethearts and Rob once said: “There’s something beautiful about being cared for by the only girl you’ve ever loved.”

Images of Rob being carried across the finishing line of the Leeds Marathon by fellow player Kevin Sinfield went all around the world in May 2023 – and became an enduring symbol of hope for MND sufferers.

Kevin raised more than £7 million for motor neurone charities after his friend was diagnosed and pushed Rob’s specially adapted chair around the 26.2-mile race before picking him up so they could finish together.

Rob later told The Sun: “Kevin whispered, ‘You’re not going to beat me Rob, we are finishing together. He then kissed me on the cheek.

“It was a day in a million. It felt like scoring in a Grand Final again.”

Rob, given an MBE in 2021, was one of Britain’s smallest rugby players but behind his diminutive stature lay the heart of a lion.

He refused to give in to MND which leaves sufferers trapped in their own bodies, their minds as sharp as ever as their movement and speech fails. 

The dad-of-three – who talked through a computer like the late physicist Stephen Hawking, who also had MND – was determined to raise awareness of the condition.

After doctors predicted he would die within a year, Rob said he was inspired to live by fellow sufferer, Scottish rugby union player Doddie Weir.

Before he lost his voice, Rob said: “Dodi is so inspiring. He’s approaching it the way I want to go, to live a normal life as much as I can.

“He’s happy, really positive and I want to be like that. 

“Whatever I can do to raise awareness, I’m more than happy.”

Dodi sadly died aged 52 in November 2022.

Undeterred, Rob and Lindsey, carried on raising awareness for the disease through interviews and fundraising.

Supporters began a £5 million fundraising drive for a new MND centre bearing Rob’s name in Leeds.

His family refused to give up the fight to keep Rob alive with dad Geoff managing to get his son on a trial drug to slow down the progressive of the disease.

Rob was diagnosed with the cruel condition after an old rugby injury flared up.

He told BBC: “My speech was slurred with family telling me it had got worse.

“I had an old injury and went for a (painkiller) jab in my shoulder. I mentioned about the speech to the doctor and was very quickly diagnosed.

“I didn’t know much about MND at all. I’d read up on the internet about the symptoms…but I didn’t believe (I had) it. When I found out it was a massive shock.”

He said his first instinct on being told he would die was to check that Lindsey was okay.

“Most husbands would feel that,” he said. “It was tough on her. I thought’ I’m glad I have this disease and not her.’

“MND is not the worst thing in the world – your kids getting poorly is the worst thing. I’m not trying to portray myself as a hero because any man would gladly take any pain from their wife and kids and give it to himself.”

The couple were then faced with telling their three children.

Rob said: “It’s not easy. How do you tell them you’ve got something when there’s no cure? Lindsey was a great help.

“We wanted to tell them before Christmas because we thought that would be a distraction. I wanted them to know, you know?”

Lindsey later spoke of the children’s acceptance saying: “We told them that the doctors and nurses were doing everything they could for Daddy but that he had MND and it was life-limiting.

“Maya said, ‘Why are you telling us this? It’s boring’. We all started laughing.”

Wife Lindsey told the Sun in May 2023 how the family had a “no tears” approach to the disease, saying: “WIthin the first couple of weeks of diagnosis, Kev Sinfield took Rob to meet Doddie, and that was the turning point.

“Doddie instilled hope into Rob, telling him, ‘Despite what they tell you, fight this and carry on with life.’

“Rob came home and told me, ‘Right, there’s a no-tears policy, we deal with this. It is what it is and we keep things as normal and possible for the children and make happy memories. 

“Rob said he would accept the diagnosis but fight the prognosis.”

Two months later Rob, who won eight Grand finals with Leeds Rhinos as they dominated rugby league in the 2000s, started recording his voice so his children could still hear him through a computer when it disappeared.

By October 2020, his dulcet Yorkshire tones could be heard through technology which Rob used his eyes to control.

As his condition worsened, the player had to permanently use a wheelchair. Unable to walk or talk, reliant on physiotherapist Lindsey and his parents Geoff and Irene, to feed and wash him.

But Rob never lost the sparkle in his eyes which appeared to constantly shine and said more about his indomitable spirit than anything else.

He said he dreaded the day he would leave his family behind – but was not afraid to die.

Rob said: “There are times when I think about death, but I’m not afraid of dying.

“The most frustrating thing is not being a proper dad. I know I am their daddy but, when it’s not on your terms, it is horrible.”

Rob, of Pontefract, Yorks, was often the Leeds Rhinos scrum-half or hooker and played 493 times, winning eight super league championships, two challenge cups and was named in the super league dream team three times. 

Yet standing at 5ft 5 and weighing 10 stone, 5lb, he was known as the ‘smallest player in the Super League’.

He showed the same determination in his fight to raise awareness of MND. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak summed up Britain’s affection for Rob in March 2023, when he was given a special 2000 Points of Light award for his work.

Rishi said: “The legacy of everything you are doing for the fight against this disease will change what it means to be diagnosed with MND.

“As you have said: ‘In a world of adversity, we must dare to dream.’

“Inspired by you, many will dare to dream and fulfil those dreams, in spite of whatever adversity they may face.”

MUSCLE weakness and stiff joints are common symptoms of motor neurone disease.

Other potential indicators of MND, which affects around 5,000 people in the UK, include a loss of muscle mass, or wasting, and movement and mobility problems.

Stiffness is also common, as are cramps, twitches and spasms.

And many people will experience speech and communication issues, breathlessness and changes in saliva.

MND is caused by a problem with cells in the brain and nerves called motor neurones.

These cells gradually stop working over time, but it’s not known why this happens, the NHS says.