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- Author, Grace Parnell & Tom Airey
- Role, BBC Yorkshire
A final message from rugby league legend and motor neurone disease (MND) campaigner Rob Burrow is urging people not to “waste a single moment” of their lives.
The speech was recorded for the BBC documentary There’s Only One Rob Burrow, with the former Leeds Rhinos star asking for it to be released after his death.
Barrow, who died Sunday at age 41, said he hoped one day there would be a cure for the degenerative condition.
“My final message to you is that whatever your personal battle is, be brave and face it,” he said.
“In a world full of adversity we must still dare to dream.”
Barrow’s diagnosis in 2019 came two years after he retired from the game, his 17-year career with the Rhinos and Great Britain including eight Super League Grand Finals, three World Club Challenges and two Challenge Cups.
In a statement, his wife Lindsey Barrow called him “simply the best” and said he was “our hero”.
“Even though we knew this day would come, somehow I still feel disgusted at the words that our beloved, kind and loving husband and father is gone,” she said.
“However, we are comforted by how much people’s love and continued support meant to Rob in his most vulnerable moments.”
On Monday morning, members of Barrow’s family oversaw the start of construction of an MND treatment center in Leeds named after him.
Burrow’s full messages are:
“I hope one day we can find a cure and live in a world without MND.
“By the time you see this, I won’t be here anymore.
“I’m just a lad from Yorkshire who has achieved 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 has since my diagnosis.
“I hope I have left a mark on the disease.
“I hope it shows that I’m living in the moment.
“I hope you find inspiration from the whole story.
“My final message to you is that whatever your personal battle is, be brave and face it.
“Every day is precious.
“In a world full of adversity we still have to dare to dream.
“Rob Barrow, Out and Out”.
After being diagnosed with MND, Burrow and his friend and former team-mate Kevin Sinfield raised more than £15m for charity in less than five years.
He was made an MBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honors list for services to rugby league and the MND community and was promoted to CBE in the 2024 New Year’s Honours.
The father-of-three died on Sunday at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.