Charity hero Kevin Sinfield is continuing to champion the memory of his late best friend and teammate, Rob Burrow, by releasing a children’s book they wrote together. He says the late rugby player was thrilled to leave the special legacy for his seven-year-old son, Jackson.
Former Leeds Rhinos star, Kevin, 44, tells the Mirror the release of Try, a children’s book about the power of friendship, is a bittersweet moment because while he’s proud to see it hit shelves, there’s also sadness that Rob isn’t here to experience too.
“Rob has lots of legacy pieces, but this one is really special,” he tells us. “It was important for Rob to have this ready for Jackson – his girls are a bit older now – and I know his mum Lindsey reads it to him and he really enjoys it.”
After meeting as up-and-coming rugby players in their early teens, Kevin and Rob went on to sit next to each other in the Leeds Rhino changing room almost every day for more than 15 years.
After Rob was given his MND diagnosis in 2019, the pair raised more than £15million for MND-related causes, with a huge chunk of that from the 2023 Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon, when Kevin famously carried his teammate and friend over the finish line.
Rob was just 41 when he died on June 2 last year, and Kevin has vowed to tirelessly continue raising money in his name.
In December, he completed seven ultra marathons in seven days as part of a “Running Home for Christmas” challenge in Rob’s memory, and is already preparing for more events later this year. Despite his achievements, Kevin describes himself as “just a guy who’s done a bit of running”.
“There’s people who’ve run a lot further for a lot longer and it’s been a lot harder, but for whatever reason we’ve hit a sweet spot and people want to support us,” he says. “The kindness and generosity just comes in bucketloads, and the MND community is just amazing.
“It’s been so fulfilling, and sad, and enjoyable and difficult, there’s a lot of conflicting emotions, but it’s a wonderful thing to be a part of. And in the toughest situations, I try to find a smile, because I remember how much Rob smiled in the toughest of situations.”
Try, which is out now, was co-written by Kevin and Rob, who was also dad to Macy, 13, and Maya, 10, and a percentage of sales go to The MND Association and Leeds Hospitals Charity.
The story – about two schoolboys who form a strong friendship and discover what it really means to be a hero – is especially emotive to Kevin, who admits he’s still very much navigating his grief for his late friend.
“Everybody loses people they love and care about, you know it’s inevitable at some point. We didn’t expect to lose Rob so soon and whenever you lose anybody that young, it makes it far worse. Life is stopped short and taken away.
“I don’t think you can always understand grief. There’s been some tough moments, but there are moments when I think how he’d want us to be, and he’d want us to laugh and enjoy life, and continue to champion his name because he’s left an unbelievable legacy. And I’ve no doubt that when we find a cure for MND, he’ll be at the heart of what’s been done.”
Try by Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield (Macmillan Children’s Books) is out in paperback now, £7.99
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