The Prince and Princess of Wales have sent a message of support to Kevin Sinfield – who is this week taking part in a gruelling charity challenge for his beloved late friend Rob Burrow.
Prince William took to social media to film a heartwarming clip from him and Kate Middleton, as he wished The England rugby union coach ‘good luck’.
Kevin will run seven ultramarathons across seven cities in seven successive days, setting off for his fifth annual fundraiser for motor neurone disease causes today. It is his first since his former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob died of MND in June.
‘Kevin Catherine and I just want to wish you the very best of luck for what’s going to be a very gruelling week raising money and awareness around MND,’ William said in the video, shared on X.
‘What you and rob have achieved has been incredible. It’s a very fitting tribute to his legacy, what you’re achieving again this week.
‘I’m sure you’ll be running with him in your mind the whole way round, so the very best of luck from Catherine and I. We’ll be thinking of you all week. Good luck.’
Earlier this summer, William and Kate led touching tributes to inspirational former rugby star and motor neurone disease 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 brave legend’s family.
Prince William took to social media to film a heartwarming clip from him and Kate Middleton , as he wished The England rugby union coach ‘good luck’
The Prince and Princess of Wales have sent a message of support to Kevin Sinfield – who is this week taking part in a gruelling charity challenge for his beloved late friend Rob Burrow. Both pictured with William earlier this year
The post read: ‘A legend of Rugby League, Rob Burrow had a huge 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 off with a W for William.
It was announced today that Rob passed away at Pinderfields Hospital near his home surrounded by his family after becoming 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.
Rob, a fan favourite, won eight Super League titles with Leeds but after being diagnosed with the illness, he dedicated himself to raising awareness and funds for the MND community. He did so with the support of former Leeds teammate Kevin.
In January, the Prince of Wales honoured Rob for his charitable efforts, telling him ‘we’re all so proud of you’ while visiting Headingley Stadium in Leeds to present the rugby legend with his CBE.
The royal also presented Rob with the medal – still in its box – as he lauded the former athlete’s legacy and efforts in campaigning.
‘Thank you and congratulations – for all the inspirational work you’ve done, Rob,’ Prince William said as the sporting icon was surrounded by his beaming wife and their children. ‘You’ve been amazing, you really have and everyone’s so proud of you.
William shared a video message for Kevin from him and his wife, Kate, on social media this morning
The royal was full of praise for the ‘remarkable’ Kevin, who will kick off his charity challenge today
‘We’ve all been following your case. You’ve changed so many people’s lives with MND with what you’ve done. We’re all so proud of you.’
Kevin has spoken about taking part in the emotionally poignant charity fundraiser without his friend by his side this year.
‘Rob has been a part of the first four and to not have him around this time is pretty tough,’ said the 44-year-old, who will again run in a No7 jersey, the number famously worn by Burrow during his Rhinos career.
‘I won’t be getting his nightly text messages and I will miss his humour. I miss him every day. But clearly, he would want us to continue this fight and it is important we do.
‘We have lost a great man, but he wouldn’t want us to be dwelling on this. He’d want us to rip into this and have a smile on our face and try and do him justice, which is what he intend to do.
‘We will share a lot of stories about him, we will laugh about him and I have no doubt he will be with us in spirit. I will certainly think of him most steps of the way along this route.
‘This was only put together right at the start because we were doing a little run for our little mate. Things have changed since then but I will never go away from why it was set up.
‘We will wear that No7 again and it means a lot that we will represent Rob and the Burrow family in the right way.’
Kevin has spoken about taking part in the emotionally poignant charity fundraiser without his friend by his side this year. Both pictured last year
In January, the Prince of Wales honoured Rob for his charitable efforts, telling him ‘we’re all so proud of you’ while visiting 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. Pictured in 2010
Pictured today: Kevin starts his latest fundraising challenge, Running Home For Christmas, at the annual charity fundraising Liverpool Santa Dash event
Kevin’s ‘running home for Christmas’ challenge starts in Liverpool and then takes him to Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, before returning to England and finishing in his home town of Saddleworth on December 7.
He will run more than 30 miles each day and will break each ultramarathon into hour-long 7km legs, a further nod to Burrow’s number.
‘My expectation is that it will be the toughest one yet,’ admitted Kevin, who has been getting as little as two hours sleep a night as he has tried to juggle training along with his England job and a speaking tour.
‘They don’t get any easier. There are some unknown problems with the stop and start and I am not getting any younger.
‘The training has been brutal. I run all year, but the last 11 weeks have been really, really difficult. They have needed to be because I can’t expect to turn up on the start line and just be able to run it.
‘People think at times that you are superhuman but that is far, far from what this is. I have got to work really hard.
‘I hate running. I was not a cross-country runner at school. I played a sport that was based around intervals and I am asthmatic. If you put all that together, it is not a great combination.
‘This is going to be a scrap. I will be nervous and worried about not completing. Something will go wrong at some point and can we be good enough and tough enough to fight through it and ensure we get this done?
‘The team will have to draw on every ounce of support we get and use that in the right way to fuel us – and at the forefront of that will be the Burrow family and Rob.’
Kevin has already raised almost £10million for MND charities from his four challenges to date.
He previously said his third fundraiser in 2022 would be his last – but he now wants to keep going until 2026.
‘The plan is to do two more after this one, if we get through this unscathed,’ added Sinfield. ‘I would love for us to do seven given this has all been built around the number seven.
‘It feels like a great place to then move on to a different way of fundraising.
‘I will never stop fundraising for MND. We will just try and find a different way of doing it. It will be time to find seven of something else.’