A final message from rugby league legend and Motor Neurone Disease (MND) campaigner Rob Burrow urges people not to “waste a moment” of their lives.
The speech was recorded for BBC documentary There’s Only One Rob Burrow, with the former Leeds Rhinos star asking for it to be shared after his death.
Burrow, who died on Sunday aged 41, said he hoped there would one day be a cure for the degenerative condition.
“My final message to you is whatever your personal battle be brave and face it,” he said.
He added: “In a world full of adversity we must still dare to dream.”
Burrow’s diagnosis in 2019 came two years after he retired from playing, with his 17-year career with the Rhinos and Great Britain including eight Super League Grand Final wins, three World Club Challenges and two Challenge Cups.
In a statement, his wife Lindsey Burrow called him “simply the best” and said he is “our hero”.
“Although we knew this day would arrive, I am somehow still feeling at a loss for words that our loving, kind and caring husband and father has departed,” she said.
“However, we take comfort from how much people’s love and continued support meant to Rob through his most vulnerable times.”
On Monday morning, members of Burrow’s family oversaw the start of construction on an MND treatment centre in Leeds named after him.
Burrow’s full messages reads:
“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.
“In a world full of adversity we must still dare to dream.
“Rob Burrow, over and out.”
After he was diagnosed with MND, Burrow and his friend and former teammate Kevin Sinfield raised more than £15m for charity in less than five years.
He 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.
The father of three died on Sunday at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.