When Rob Burrow told his wife Lindsey of his life shattering diagnosis, she became his carer as well as his best friend and spouse.
The couple met when they were just 15 and Lindsey fell for Rob, who was 5ft 4ins - even though her dad told her to marry someone tall. They enjoyed many happy years together as Rob lifted eight Super League trophies and two Challenge Cups during his career with Leeds Rhino alongside his best friend, Kevin Sinfield.
He retired from the game and life was good until, two years later in 2019 Rob was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 37 and given two years to live. Lindsey became his unpaid carer while also looking after their three children, alongside her role as a physiotherapist.
As the years went on and the cruel condition worsened, Rob lost the ability to do the simplest things many of us take for granted. It fell to his wife to help him eat, get dressed or wash.
Lindsey helping her husband as her carer (X)The pair of them vowed to love each other no matter what almost two decades ago - and Lindsey’s dedication and love proved that to be true. Rob previously said: "I could not ask for a better help than my beautiful wife Lindsey.
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“I know when you get married you say that you will be there in sickness and in health. I did not think she signed up to look after me so soon. She is my very own superhero and I could not be alive without her help with everything. I love her so much.
"I am amazed by Lindsey every day. It can be a very dark and lonely place at times but Lindsey always makes me feel like we are carrying on in the most normal way we can possibly manage. She is stronger than any rugby hero I have ever played alongside and I'm so lucky to have her."
Rob with his wife Lindsey when he got his MBE (PA)
Lindsey running in the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (PA)Rob was also robbed of his ability to be a hands-on dad and play rugby in the garden with his son, Jackson. But the family watch videos of his days as a scrum-half and share stories of how fast daddy could run. All three children idolised him. The eldest, Macy, said in a documentary: “My dad will always have a place in my heart. He has left a mark on the world.”
Upon his death yesterday at the age of 41, a statement was released saying: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our beloved son, husband, father, brother and friend. Rob has always been a true inspiration throughout his life whether that was on the rugby league field or during his battle with MND (motor neurone disease). He never allowed others to define what he could achieve and believed in his own ability to do more.
“The outpouring of love and support Rob and the whole Burrow family have received over the last four and a half years meant so much to Rob.”
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