Rob Burrow CBE was a rugby league player, who sadly lost his battle to Motor Neurone Disease on 2 June 2024, aged 41, four and a half years on from his diagnosis. Rob played for one team during his playing career, and that club was Leeds Rhinos. He made nearly 500 appearances for the side, and he was a scrum-half and hooker. Burrow also featured for England, Great Britain and Yorkshire. He won a staggering eight Super League championships across his 17-year playing career.
The Rob Burrow MND centre is located at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds. The centre helps to support families and patients with Motor Neurone Disease. Leeds Hospitals Charity helped to raise £10 million for the centre, playing a significant part in funding the opening of the new £6.8 million building.
Burrow’s former team-mate Kevin Sinfield was part of the fundraising team, and he ran multiple marathons to raise money and awareness for the cause. He said, “We’ve got to the point where something incredibly special has been put together. Yes it’s brick and mortar, but those bricks and mortar will enable families to have a better journey, and that’s a big part of this,” he told the BBC.
Work on the facility began back in June 2024, a day after Burrow’s death was announced by his family.
The facility is expected to be used as a flagship centre for the North of England, helping affected families. The centre not only has clinic rooms, but it also contains rooms for treatments and tests, along with community-focused areas. Those areas include quiet spaces for reading and for people to relax. In addition, there are also activity and dining areas in the facility, giving it a homely feel to patients and visitors.
The local community and the public were praised by the people close to the fundraiser, saying its opening is “down to their generosity.” More than 17,000 donors contributed towards the centre. His widow, Lindsey, said: “To have so many of the staff work in the centre, and indeed the patients here, it is just such an honour.”
The opening will help be a trailblazer for other centres to be built across the country. Plenty of detail went into the design to put patients and their families at the heart of the hospital, which is the first of its kind in England.
