MND Association of Northampton commend Rob Burrow's bravery a year on from his death
The Rugby star passed away a year ago today.
The MND Association in Northampton has commended Leeds Rhino's star Rob Burrow's bravery a year on from his death.
The former Rugby star passed away a year ago today (June 2 2024) aged just 41 from the condition. He went public with his condition and before and since his passing, has helped raise millions to support the MND service.
That includes £6.7 million organised by Leeds Hospitals Charity for the Rob Burrow Centre for MND.
Jan Warren is the chair for the Northampton branch of the MND Association.
She says what Rob Burrow did to share his story was incredibly brave and helped to raise awareness of the condition:
"Raising awareness is 90% of getting the funding that we need to help those people who are living with the disease and those that are affected by it."
Jan says we often forget that loved ones are also affected by the condition, sometimes children. And those children, wives, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers involved they sometimes need a respite but don't feel worthy enough to ask for it.
That's something the MND Association can help with:
"We try to help them to get a little respite from that, perhaps sending their children on an away day or an adventure weekend so that they don't have to live with the disease themselves."
Jan also says she thinks Rob's wife Lindsay is probably the bravest carer in the country:
"She was looking after her husband who was dying with that disease, but she also raised awareness for carers.
Because when you're caring for someone... my husband used to say to me, you're not my carrier. You're my wife. And I said. But that's part of the job."
Jan first began to become involved with the MND Association due to her first hand experience, after losing her husband to MND 10 years ago.
David Warren sadly had a very aggressive form of the disease called ALS:
"He was diagnosed on the 1st of May and he died on the 9th of September the same year. So literally 131 days and not once did I ever hear him get upset by the fact that he was unlucky enough to get the disease. He never complained, he said, 'every day is an opportunity to make a memory.
"Every day, let's wake up with a smile on our faces because it starts the world off right. And from now on, let's just be kind because we we don't know what's happened to any person walking towards us. So let's be kind to them.'"
Jan also commended the charity work of Rob's friend and fellow player Kevin Sinfield who is taking on another sixth fundraising challenge for MND charities and those who helped his friend Rob.
Walk to Defeat MND events will be taking place this September in Northampton.