Rob Burrows’ wife, Lindsey Burrow, shared the heart-wrenching moment when her husband signaled he had reached his limit during their last night together, watching their wedding video.
The 42-year-old Lindsey recounted how Rob, a former rugby player at 41, was in the final stages of motor neurone disease (MND) and battling pneumonia, rendering him paralyzed and reliant on a ventilator in the hospital with no means of communication.
She explained that Rob’s refusal of medication, physiotherapy, and even water intake marked the acceptance of the disease’s progression, a devastating realization following his four-year struggle with MND.
‘Rob, I know you’re really tired. Have you had enough?,’ she asked him. He looked to the left.
In their simple way of communicating, Rob would cast his eye left for yes and right for no.
‘I wanted to cry,’ Lindsey told the Sun. ‘I knew what I was asking and I needed to know that it was really what he wanted.
‘I just held him in my arms for a long time until he fell asleep. I thought I might howl with the pain but he’d had enough. He’d fought his battle.’
The night before his death, the couple watched their wedding video one final time in his room at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. They watched the video with his mum Irene and his sisters Claire and Joanne.
Rob Burrow pictured with his wife and three children at a holiday village in 2021
Former rugby league player Rob Burrow and his wife Lindsey pose for a photograph with his medal after he was awarded his MBE at Windsor Castle in 2022
Prince William, Prince of Wales meets former rugby league player Rob Burrow to congratulate him for raising awareness of Motor Neurone Disease, and award him with the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2024
Lindsey has revealed how her family were continued to make important memories with Rob in lead up to his death on June 2 last year.
The couple’s three children, Macy, 13, Maya, nine, and Jackson, six, painted their father’s fingers with rainbow-coloured ink to add his fingerprints into their memory book.
Macy and Maya had spent the previous months rehearsing for a musical show that fell on day of Rob’s death but he insisted they still went to.
When they returned to the hospital they showed their father a recording of the performance which Lindsey said ‘really lifted’ Rob and put a ‘big smile’ on his face.
Lindsey recalled how Rob’s health started to further deteriorate in March last year as his texts began to become confusing and by May he was unable to message her at all.
Weeks before his death Lindsey said she sensed her family had entered a ‘dark zone, a limbo between life and death’.
However, Rob kept still going on days out with his family and, believing they were on borrowed time, Lindsey carried him from his downstairs room to their home cinema room so he could watch a movie with their children.
Lindsey has revealed how her family were able to make important memories with Rob in lead up to his death on June 2 last year
Rob and Lindsey on their wedding day in 2006
Burrow during the Betfred Super League semi final between Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC at Headingley on September 29, 2017
The following day he was taken into hospital for the last time.
Lindsey and Rob’s were childhood sweethearts with their love story beginning when they were both 15.
She previously said in a BBC documentary that there was never any doubt they would marry – even though her dad had urged her to marry someone tall. But she plumped for 5ft5ins Rob, and said they had the ‘perfect life’ together.
She said: ‘There was never going to be anyone else I was going to marry. I knew it from the start. He treated me like a princess. It was love at first sight. It can be a cliché but it was true for me’.
Rob was diagnosed with MND in 2019, just two years after retiring from a 17-season league career. He won eight Super League titles with Leeds Rhinos but after being diagnosed with the illness, he dedicated himself to raising awareness and funds for the MND community.
His courage and fundraising efforts saw him be awarded an MBE in 2022. Last January, he and former rugby teammate Kevin Sinfield, received CBE honours from Prince William.
The pair, who both played for Leeds Rhinos, raised £16million together after Rob’s diagnosis.
Their touching bond was evident when Kevin carried his friend over the finish line at the Leeds Marathon in 2023- having pushed him in a wheelchair during the gruelling run.
Kevin Sinfield is pictured carrying his late friend over the Leeds Marathon finish line before he passed away
The pair were clearly emotional as they crossed the finish line to huge cheers from the watching crowds.
Kevin was photographed as he gave his former teammate a kiss of affection to mark the moment they crossed the line.
Rob said at the time: ‘The Marathon was one of the most important and special events I’ve done and meant so many things to so many people.
‘But for me, it was about friendship and crossing the finish line with my mate Kev will live with me forever and it created a platform to raise funds and awareness for MND charities’.
