The Rob Burrow Center for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) has been hailed as a “transformative moment in care” for those affected by the disease as it officially opened.
The center at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds was the dream of the late rugby league star Rob Barrow and his consultant Dr Agam Jung and is the first purpose-built center fully dedicated to 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 run by the charity Leeds Hospitals and supported by Barrow’s friend and former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Kevin Sinfield.
More than 17,000 donors have contributed to the center to date, and patients, their families, clinical specialists and the wider MND community have been involved in its design.
Construction work was completed less than 18 months after Barrow died in June 2024.
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Kevin Sinfield has described the moment he crossed the finish line of the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon with the former professional rugby league player as “really, really special”
Dr Jung, who is a consultant neurologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and director of the centre, said it was born out of Burrow’s determination to create a place that treated patients as people rather than conditions.
He said: “It’s been five years since the idea to build this center – a legacy of Rob’s strength, his family’s support and the compassion of the whole community.
“I am so grateful to so many people who worked together to make this dream a reality.”
“I was very pleased when Rob fully embraced the ‘Living in the Now’ ethos of the Leeds MND service.
“He wanted to leave a legacy for people to be able to do that, and that spread throughout the MND community.”
“All of us who work in this amazing new center will focus on providing the best care and community for families and patients to do so.”
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John Innes sang a special rendition of Nessun Dorma to pay tribute to the former Leeds Buro player ahead of the Rhinos v Wakefield Trinity match 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 have managed to reach our target of £6.8m.
“We’d like to give a special thanks to Kevin Sinfield for his heroic fundraising, going above and beyond in honor of his friendship with Rob, and he’s at it again this year with his latest challenge.”
“He inspired so many people.”
Sally Hughes, director of services and partnerships at the MND Association, said the center “marks a transformative moment in care for people with MND in Leeds and across West Yorkshire”.
She said: “This purpose-built facility, inspired by our late patron, will provide an environment of support and compassion for all those affected by MND – for the person diagnosed and their family, which is so important when dealing with such a life-changing disease.”
Barrow died aged 41 after a four and a half year battle with MND.
A ground-breaking ceremony for the MND center was held on the day his death was announced, and his family said they would be “looking down and smiling”.