The wife and children of rugby league legend Rob Burrow laid flowers at Headingley Stadium, where many others also paid their respects.
Lindsey Burrow, along with Macy, Maya and Jackson, also read some of the tributes that were left at the Leeds Rhinos home.
On Monday, in his own honor, his wife said he was “simply the best” and was “loving, kind, and caring.”
Play, 41, died on Sunday four and a half years after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).
He spent his entire rugby league career with the Rhinos, helping them win eight Super League titles.
Two years after his retirement in 2017, Burrow revealed he had been diagnosed with MND and began fundraising and campaigning to raise awareness of the disease and improve care and research.
He led a £6.8 million charity appeal to Leeds Hospitals Charity, where he received care, for a purpose-built care center for people with MND living in and around the city.
In a statement, Lindsey Burrow said of her husband’s death: “Although we knew this day would come, somehow I am still speechless about the fact that our loving, kind and caring husband and father is gone.”
She added: “I was incredibly proud and lucky to call Rob my husband.
“I am incredibly proud of the campaign he ran to raise awareness and the millions of pounds that have been raised in his name for MND charities.
“I would like to thank the rugby league community and everyone for the outpouring of love and support since Rob’s diagnosis. I truly appreciate every message of support and fundraising that has been done.”
Photo: Ben Lack Photography Ltd.
Also on Monday, a ceremony to mark the opening of the Rob Burrow Center for MND at Leeds’ Seacroft Hospital went ahead as planned at Burrow’s request, with his family saying he would “be looking down and smiling”.
Burrow’s close friend and former teammate Kevin Sinfield attended the ceremony, along with Burrow’s parents Geoff and Irene Burrow, and his sisters Joanne Hartshorn and Claire Burnett.
Rob Burrow was 41 when he died
The family said Burrow would like them to be there when construction work began on the purpose-built, state-of-the-art care center.
Burrow’s rugby league legacy will be the focal point of the final day of the Challenge Cup on Saturday at Wembley, with a series of tributes in his honour.
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A minute’s silence will be held before the men’s and women’s finals, while a minute’s applause will also take place in the seventh minute of each match – Burrow wore the number seven shirt for Leeds – as well as in schools and the 1895 cup finals.
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Burrow was appointed MBE in the 2021 New Year Honors list for his services to rugby league and the MND community and was promoted to CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
