ROB Burrow’s brave kids comforted their mum today as she was overcome with emotion while inspecting the sea of flowers laid in his honour.
Hundreds of fans have paid tribute at Headingley where his team Leeds Rhinos played.
And wife Lindsey, his teenage sweetheart, and their children Macy, 11, Maya, eight, and four-year-old Jackson yesterday laid their own bouquets.
Lindsey wept as she surveyed the floral tributes and it sank in just how much her husband meant to so many people.
We take comfort from how much people’s love and continued support meant to Rob through his most vulnerable times
Lindsey Burrow
At one stage Macy gave her mum a hug and the family then spent time reading the messages on the cards from heartbroken supporters.
Rob touched the hearts of millions with his brave battle against Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and his drive to raise millions to fund research to help others.
He passed away on Sunday aged 41, a day before the ground-breaking ceremony on the MND centre in Leeds which will bear his name.
Lindsey said after he passed away: “He was simply the best. Our hero.”
In her heart-wrenching statement, she wrote: “Although we knew this day would arrive, I am somehow still feeling at a loss for words that our loving, kind, caring husband and father has departed.
“I was incredibly proud and fortunate to call Rob my husband.
“I am unbelievably proud of the campaigning he’s done to raise awareness and the millions of pounds that have been raised in his name for MND charities.
“I would like to thank the Rugby League community and everyone for their outpouring of love and support since Rob’s diagnosis. I truly appreciate every message of support, and fundraising that has been done.
“My priority is to make Rob proud, and to bring our three children up as Rob would want and ensure their happiness and wellbeing.
“We will continue to keep Rob’s legacy alive. We will continue to ‘bang the drum’ and do our best to try and help others.
“We take comfort from how much people’s love and continued support meant to Rob through his most vulnerable times.
“He was simply the best.”
Tributes continued to pour in yesterday.
Actor Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film series and voiced the audiobook version of Burrow’s autobiography, said: “A world without Rob is a little less bright, a little less optimistic.
“But his legacy will be as great as he was. The Rob Burrow Centre for MND will be built. And it will be the beginning of the end for this disease.”
THE pre-recorded final words to his family, were aired on the BBC One special programme There's Only One Rob Burrow
Burrow said: “I hope one day we find a cure and live in a world free of MND.
“By the time that you watch this I will no longer be here.
“I am just a lad from Yorkshire who got to live out his dream of playing rugby league.
“As a father of three young children I would never want any family to have to go through what my family have since my diagnosis.
“I hope I have left a mark on the disease.
“I hope it shows to live in the moment.
“I hope you find inspiration from the whole story.
“My final message to you is whatever your personal battle be brave and face it.
“Every single day is precious.
“Don’t waste a moment.
“In a world full of adversity we must still dare to dream.
“Rob Burrow, over and out.”
On Monday, the Rob Burrow Centre for MND at Seacroft Hospital was opened in a touching ceremony at Rob’s request.
His close friend and former team-mate Kevin Sinfield attended the occasion with Burrow’s parents Geoff and Irene Burrow, alongside sisters Joanne Hartshorn and Claire Burnett.
Mrs Burrow told reporters: “I said this is what Rob would want and I think he’d be proud that we all pulled ourselves together and got the strength to come, and we’re doing it for Lindsey and the kids.
“He’ll be looking down on us and he’ll be going ‘thumbs up’. We’re so proud to be here and it’s amazing what you can achieve.”
“As Rob says, in a world full of adversity you must dare to dream. We’re dreaming of when this opens,” she added.
Before his death, Burrow had led a £6.8million charity appeal for Leeds Hospitals Charity, where he received care, for a centre for those with MND.
Burrow was made an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours list for his services to rugby league and the MND community and was promoted to a CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours.
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.
The former rugby player was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2019, just two years after retiring from a 17-season rugby league career.
He passed away peacefully at Pinderfield’s Hospital near his home surrounded by his loving family after becoming ill earlier this week.
The small but mighty rugby icon played his entire career with Leeds Rhinos and won every honour with the club as part of their golden generation.
He scooped eight Super League titles in an illustrious playing career while also representing England and Great Britain internationally.
Burrow left a pre-recorded final message to his family and the world.
The touching words were aired on the BBC One special programme There’s Only One Rob Burrow on Monday evening.
Burrow spoke about receiving his diagnosis and said: “My family told me I was slurring my speech a bit but I didn’t take notice or believe them.”
Meanwhile, devastated widow Lindsey said: “I remember that moment being told it’s not good news.
“Asking how long and them saying two years. Rob said thank god it’s me and not the kids. That’s all he was bothered about.”
Inspirational Burrow described himself as “a fighter” in his message and said: “I’ll certainly be swinging, I’m not going to give in, not until my last breath.
“I’m a prisoner in my own body, that’s the way MND gets you.
“I think I would’ve broken down if it was me but Lindsey has this unwavering patience.”
The rugby legend also recalled childhood memories of playing the sport.
“The guys always seemed to be a lot lot bigger than me. It inspired me to be more determined.”
In his final emotional final message, Burrow said: “As a father of three young children I would never want any family to have to go through what my family have since my diagnosis.
“I hope I have left a mark on the disease.
“I hope it shows to live in the moment.
“I hope you find inspiration from the whole story.
“My final message to you is whatever your personal battle be brave and face it.
“Every single day is precious.
“Don’t waste a moment.
“In a world full of adversity we must still dare to dream.
“Rob Burrow, over and out.”
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.”
