The Rob Burrow Center for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) has been hailed as a “transformational moment in care” for all affected by the disease as it officially opens.
The center at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds was the dream of the late rugby league star Rob Burrow and his consultant Dr. Agam Jung and is the first purpose-built center dedicated solely to MND care, research, education and holistic support in the UK.
The centre, which opens on Monday, has been made possible thanks to a £6.8m fundraising campaign led by Leeds Hospitals Charity and supported by Burrows’ friend and former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Kevin Sinfield.
More than 17,000 donors have contributed to the center so far, and patients, their families, clinical specialists and the wider MND community have all been involved in its design.
Construction work has been completed less than 18 months after Burrow’s death in June 2024.
Dr. Jung, who is a consultant neurologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and director of the centre, said it was born out of Burrows’ determination to create a place that treated patients as people, not conditions.
He said: “It is five years since the idea to build this center was born – a legacy of Rob’s strength, his family’s support and the compassion of a whole community.
“I am so grateful to so many people who have worked together to make this dream a reality.
“I was delighted when Rob fully embraced the Leeds MND Service ethos of ‘Living in the Now’.
“He wanted to leave a legacy for people to do that and this has spread across the MND community.
“All of us working in this incredible new center will focus on providing the very best care and community for families and patients to do just that.”
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John Innes sang a special performance of Nessun Dorma to pay tribute to former Leeds player Burrow ahead of Rhinos’ game against Wakefield Trinity at Headingley
Chief executive of Leeds Hospitals Charity, Esther Wakeman, said: “When we launched the fundraising appeal with Dr Jung and the Burrow family in September 2021, we could never have imagined the outpouring of support it would receive, from across the country.
“In just three years we were able to reach the target of £6.8m.
“We’d like to say a special thank you to Kevin Sinfield for his heroic fundraising that goes beyond his friendship with Rob and he’s at it again this year with his latest challenge.
“He has inspired so many people.”
Sally Hughes, director of services and partnerships at the MND Association said the center “marks a transformative moment in the care of people with MND in Leeds and across West Yorkshire”.
She said: “This purpose-built facility, inspired by our late patron, will provide a supportive and compassionate environment for everyone affected by MND – for the person diagnosed and also their family, which is so important when facing such a life-changing disease.”
Burrow died aged 41 after a four and a half year battle with MND.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the MND center got under way on the day his death was announced, and his family said he would “look down and smile”.