Kevin Sinfield says his ability to help team-mate Rob Burrow as well as the wider MND community is the greatest achievement of his life.
Sinfield completed his seventh marathon in seven days on Monday, a challenge he took on in the hope of raising £77,777.
As it stands, over £1.2million has been raised – and rising, after Rob’s story touched the hearts of the nation.
“This is right at the top of the list,” the Leeds Rhinos legend said.
“It’s great to be back in the team, I’ve said that already, but to be able to do something and help people and have an opportunity to make a difference, to raise over a million quid for someone who is a real good friend is really important. It’s top of the list this, definitely.
“The support has been incredible, but this is all about Rob and a group of friends and team-mates who had wonderful times together, now one has hit a rough patch and we’re coming out to help. Sometimes, you just need to help a mate, and that’s what we’re trying to do. In its simplest terms, we’ve been on seven runs. I’m really proud of the team, they’ve been outstanding.
“I’ve heard so many different stories of how horrific this disease is, I knew how cruel it was anyway and seen it first hand with Rob over the last 11 months, but this amount of money will make a huge difference a change a lot of things hopefully.”
Sinfield hopes the money raised will help find a cure for the disease, which affects the nerves and brain.
“I remember the car journey up to Scotland when we went to see Doddie Weir within a couple of days of his diagnosis and we talked about what our team would do for him and a magic number we’d get to, to make sure the family were safe and comforted and he wouldn’t have to worry about those things moving forward, and just had to worry about enjoying the family. What the last week does is ensure that happens, which is really important to us, especially leading into Christmas.
“To be able to send him the text the other night and tell him what we talked about on that dark day December, we’ll do that and more, gives us, as friends, great satisfaction.
“And wider than that, every afternoon this week I’ve been on a Zoom call with people who have been affected with MND across the country, and its such a cruel disease and hopefully these funds will be used in exactly the right way to help families deal with it better, try and make this a little bit better for them, but ultimately to find a cure and some treatment. I don’t know what that million quid will do but I think it’s a great starting point.”