Rob Burrow’s wheelchair-accessible van was vandalised as he enjoyed a Christmas meal with his family in Castleford last night, the rugby league star’s father has said.
The 40-year-old has been a leading campaigner for motor neurone disease since being diagnosed with the rare condition in 2019 – two years after retiring from a glittering 17-year sporting career representing Leeds Rhinos, England and Great Britain.
His father, Geoff, said that the family had been inundated with offers to repair the van, after they emerged from their dinner at Rockello restaurant Glasshoughton at around 9pm to discover the vehicle had been vandalised.
“They made quite a lot of deep scratches on the back of the van where we wheel Rob in on the ramp,” he said, describing the culprits as “cowards”.
“How anybody can do anything like that, it clearly had a disability sign on it and Rob’s disability badges on the front,” Geoff told the BBC.
“The outpouring of kindness shows you that there’s more nice people than scumbags like this person, but we could have done without it – we’re going through enough without having to deal with this.”
“It spoilt a good night out ... how they sleep is their problem I suppose,” he added.
The incident took place just two days after the former scrum-half was honoured with the Helen Rollason Award at the Sports Personality of the Year 2022 competition.
Mr Burrow, who was also awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Years Honours List and who uses an eye-controlled computer to communicate, told the audience that was accepting the BBC award on behalf of his “MND hero”, the late Scottish rugby union player Doddie Weir.
“What a fantastic guy he was. I don’t think I would be here today without meeting him less than a week into my diagnosis,” Mr Burrow said, adding: “We will not stop until we find a cure.”
Mr Burrow is a patron of the MND Association, and has published a memoir named Too Many Reasons to Live and taken part in two BBC documentaries about his experience of living with the condition, which impacts an estimated 5,000 people in the UK.
The Indepedent has approached West Yorkshire Police for comment.
