When Lewis Moody revealed this week that he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), the reaction was instant, and visceral. Within hours, tributes flooded in for the former England captain once known as “Mad Dog” – a player revered for his fearlessness, humour and tireless chase. Columnists called him “the most determined kick-chaser” and “the noblest of gundogs”. Headlines described a man built for power now confronting a condition that slowly steals it away. Messages of solidarity poured in – all threaded with disbelief that yet another figure from Britain’s sporting elite had been struck by this devastating disease.
At just 47, Moody is more than a decade younger than the average person diagnosed with MND; he was “overcome with emotion” when he spoke about telling his sons – 17-year-old Dylan and 15-year-old Ethan – the news. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” he told reporters. “There’s something about looking the future in the face and not wanting to really process that at the minute,” Moody told the BBC on Monday. “It’s not that I don’t understand where it’s going. We understand that. But there is absolutely a reluctance to look the future in the face for now,” he admitted.
