The Prince and Princess of Wales have sent a message of support to Kevin Sinfield, who this week is taking part in a grueling charity challenge for his dear, late friend Rob Burrow.
Prince William took to social media to film a touching clip of himself and Kate Middleton, as he wished the England rugby coach “good luck.”
Kevin will run seven ultramarathons in seven cities in seven consecutive days, and today he will embark on his fifth annual fundraiser for motor neurone disease causes. It is the first time since his former Leeds Rhinos teammate Rob died from MND in June.
“Kevin Catherine and I just want to wish you the best of luck in what will be a very exhausting week raising money and awareness for MNE,” William said in the video, shared on unknown.
‘What you and Rob have achieved has been incredible. It’s a very fitting tribute to his legacy, which you’re achieving again this week.
I’m sure you’ll be thinking about him all the time, so best of luck from Catherine and me. We will be thinking about you all week. Good luck.’
Earlier this summer, William and Kate led moving tributes to inspirational former rugby star and motor neurone sufferer Rob, who died aged 41.
The official X account of Prince William and Princess Kate posted a touching message and expressed their condolences to the family of the brave legend.
Prince William took to social media to film a touching clip of himself and Kate Middleton, as he wished the England rugby coach “good luck.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales have sent a message of support to Kevin Sinfield, who this week is taking part in a grueling charity challenge for his dear, late friend Rob Burrow. Both pictured with William earlier this year.
The post said: “Rob Burrow, a Rugby League legend, had a big heart.”
‘He taught us, “in a world full of adversity, we must dare to dream.” “Catherine and I send our love to Lindsey, Jackson, Maya and Macy.” It was signed with a W for William.
Today it was announced that Rob passed away at Pinderfields Hospital, near his home, surrounded by his family after falling ill earlier in the week.
The rugby player was diagnosed with the disease in 2019, just two years after retiring from a 17-season league career.
A fan favorite, Rob won eight Super League titles with Leeds, but after being diagnosed with the disease he dedicated himself to raising awareness and funds for the MND community. He did it with the support of former Leeds teammate Kevin.
In January, the Prince of Wales honored Rob for his charitable efforts, telling him “we are all so proud of you” as he visited Headingley Stadium in Leeds to present the rugby legend with his CBE.
The royal also presented Rob with the medal, still in its box, while praising the former athlete’s legacy and efforts in his campaign.
“Thank you and congratulations for all the inspiring work you’ve done, Rob,” Prince William said as the sports icon was surrounded by his beaming wife and children. “You’ve been amazing, you really have and everyone is so proud of you.”
William shared a video message to Kevin from him and his wife, Kate, on social media this morning.
The royals praised ‘extraordinary’ Kevin, who will begin his charity challenge today.
‘We have all been following your case. You have changed the lives of many people with MND with what you have done. We are all very proud of you.
Kevin has spoken of taking part in the touching charity fundraiser without his friend by his side this year.
“Rob has been part of the first four and not having him this time is quite difficult,” said the 44-year-old, who will again race in the number 7 jersey, the number Burrow wore during his career with the Rhinos. .
‘I won’t be receiving his late night texts and I will miss his humour. I miss him every day. But it is clear that he would want us to continue this fight and it is important that we do so.
‘We have lost a great man, but he wouldn’t want us to dwell on this. He would want us to go into this and have a smile on our face and try to do him justice, which is what he intends to do.
‘We will share many stories about him, we will laugh at him and I have no doubt that he will be with us in spirit. I will certainly think of him on most steps of this route.
‘This was only set up from the beginning because we were doing a little race for our little mate. Things have changed since then, but I will never stop explaining why it was created.
“We will wear that number 7 again and it means a lot that we will represent Rob and the Burrow family the right way.”
Kevin has spoken of taking part in the touching charity fundraiser without his friend by his side this year. Both photographed last year.
In January, the Prince of Wales honored Rob for his charitable efforts, telling him “we are all so proud of you” as he visited Headingley Stadium in Leeds to present the rugby legend with his CBE.
The rugby player was diagnosed with the disease in 2019, just two years after retiring from a 17-season league career. Photographed in 2010
Pictured today: Kevin begins his latest fundraising challenge, Running Home For Christmas, at the annual Liverpool Santa Dash charity fundraising event.
Kevin’s ‘race home for Christmas’ challenge begins in Liverpool and then takes him to Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, before returning to England and finishing in his hometown of Saddleworth on December 7.
He’ll run more than 30 miles each day and break each ultramarathon into hour-long, 7K segments, another nod to Burrow’s number.
“My expectation is that it will be the hardest yet,” admitted Kevin, who has been sleeping just two hours a night as he tries to juggle training with work in England and a speaking tour.
‘There is nothing easier. There are some unknown issues with the stop/start system and I’m not getting any younger.
‘The training has been brutal. I run all year round, but the last 11 weeks have been really difficult. They needed it because I can’t expect to show up at the starting line and just be able to run.
‘People sometimes think you’re superhuman, but that’s very, very far from what it is. I have to work very hard.
‘I hate running. I wasn’t a distance runner in school. I played a sport that was based on intervals and I am asthmatic. If you put all that together, it’s not a great combination.
‘This is going to be a fight. I will be nervous and worried about not completing it. Something will go wrong at some point and can we be good and tough enough to fight it and make sure we make it?
“The team will have to take every ounce of support we receive and use it in the right way to push us forward, and at the forefront of that will be the Burrow family and Rob.”
Kevin has already raised almost £10 million for MND charities across his four challenges to date.
He previously said his third fundraiser in 2022 would be his last, but now he wants to continue until 2026.
“The plan is to do two more after this one, if we come out of this unscathed,” Sinfield added. ‘I’d love for us to do seven, given that this whole thing has been built around the number seven.
‘It seems like a great place to then move on to a different way of fundraising.
‘I will never stop fundraising for MND. We will try to find a different way to do it. It will be time to find seven of something else.