'Whatever your battle, be brave and face it'

ROB Burrow called on people to "be brave and face adversity" in a poignant final message from the motor neurone disease campaigner and rugby league legend.

- Paul Jeeves and Mark Jefferies

It was screened last night in a BBC documentary marking his death.

His family and career club Leeds Rhinos announced his passing at the age of 41 on Sunday after a four-and-a-half-year battle.

In There's Only One Rob Burrow, he said: "I hope one day we find a cure and live in a world free of MND. By the time you watch this I will no longer be here. As a father of three young children I would never want any family to go through what my family and children 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." He added: "I am just a lad from Yorkshire who got to live out his dream of playing rugby league."

And he closed by saying: "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."

Rob managed to continue speaking despite having MND thanks to an eye-gaze machine which allowed him to communicate by looking at words and the computer then spoke for him. His heartbroken widow Lindsey vowed yesterday to keep his legacy alive.

She comforted their children Macy, 12, and Maya, eight, and Jackson, five, at home as a ceremony was held to mark the start of work on the £6.8million Rob Burrow MND Centre in Leeds. Meanwhile, fans flocked to Headingley Stadium - home of Leeds Rhinos - to lay their tributes. Rob and his friend and former team-mate Kevin Sinfield raised more than £15million for the MND Association after the explayer's diagnosis in late 2019.

And due to their phenomenal efforts the state-of-the-art complex is set to transform patient care when it opens in a year's time.