Rob Burrow’s touching 10-word response to devastating MND diagnosis revealed by wife

Immediate reaction to Rob Burrow’s heartbreaking MND diagnosis is detailed in new extract from book by the rugby league and charity fundraising legend’s wife Lindsey

Inspirational Rob Burrow told his wife “Thank God it’s me and not you or the children” on the day he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The heartbreaking moments are recalled in a new book from wife Lindsey Burrow that is released next week.

Rugby league legend Rob died on June 2 last year after raising more than £20million for motor neurone disease charities, having been diagnosed with the condition in his late 30s. He was awarded an MBE on 2002, before both he and best pal Kevin Sinfield, who has run thousands of miles to fundraise millions for charity received CBE honours from Prince William in January last year.

And in a new extract of Lindsey’s book Take Care, which is being serialised by the Sun, the former Leeds Rhinos star’s wife has detailed the earth-shattering day the couple, with three young children, learnt of his diagnosis on 12 December 2019.

“This was the day our lives were blown apart,” she wrote. “We had just moved into our dream home in Pontefract and life seemed perfect.

“Macy was eight and dreamed of playing the lead in a West End musical while Maya, just four, fancied becoming a movie star. Jackson was about to turn one. I knew Rob secretly hoped Jackson would follow him into rugby league and play for Leeds Rhinos.

“We had an appointment at the Nuffield Hospital in Leeds with neurologist Dr Jeremy Cosgrove after Rob began slurring words. He had been exhausted for a few months and his mum Irene and former teammates had also noticed a slur in his speech.

“I became acutely aware of Rob’s speech problem when I heard how hard it was for him to say the word “solicitor” while buying our home.”

Lindsey goes on to write that Rob was certain the slurs in his speech were because of painkillers he was taken for a shoulder injury.

But when the doctor broke the news “Rob looked at him blankly because he had no idea of the severity of this sentence.”

She added: “It was very different for me. As soon as I heard the words “motor neurone disease”, it was as if a bomb had fallen from the sky and blown me apart. I knew our glorious life together was over.

“I found it difficult to look at Rob, the man I loved, because I understood what it meant. Rob would be buried alive in his own body. He would be trapped and paralysed beneath the rubble of MND.

“On the walk to our car, Rob put his arm around me and said: “Thank God it’s me and not you or the children.” He didn’t say: “Why me?” There was no pity.”

Lindsey goes on to describe how on the drive home Rob phoned his parents in the car and his father, Geoff, “was so distraught it sounded like he had collapsed.”

• Take Care: A Memoir of Love, Family & Never Giving Up by Lindsey Burrow will be released on February 27.

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