ROB BURROW once said: “There’s something beautiful about being cared for by the only girl you’ve ever loved.” It was typical of the way the rugby league legend tackled motor neurone disease, which turned him from one of the fiercest rugby league players in Britain to being confined to a wheelchair barely able to move. Rob, who has died aged 41, leaves behind wife Lindsey — his teenage sweetheart — and their children Macy, 11, Maya, eight, and four-year-old Jackson.
The sportsman had a stellar 17-season career at Leeds Rhinos as well as being capped 15 times for England and five for Great Britain. In 2019, two years after retiring, he was diagnosed with MND and told he only had two years to live. He selflessly threw himself into raising awareness of the disease and fundraising for MND charities — helping to raise around £20million with his best pal and former team-mate Kevin Sinfield , 43.
Lindsey said: “This is so people no longer have to explain. And it is about giving hope to families who have little. You are given bleak statistics, we want to bring change.
” Images of Rob being carried across the finishing line of the Leeds Marathon by his mate Kevin went all around the world in May 2023 and became an enduring symbol of hope. The friends met at a Rhinos squad session when Kevin was 14 and Rob was 12. Kevin pushed Rob’s specially adapted chair around the 26.
2-mile course before picking him up so they could finish together. Rob later told The Sun: “Kevi.
