Coronation Street: Rob Burrow hopes MND story will raise awareness

Rob and Lindsey Burrow pictured outside the Rovers Return with Peter Ash and Daniel Brocklebank

Rugby League legend Rob Burrow said he hoped Coronation Street's storyline about Motor Neurone Disease (MND) would help raise awareness of the condition.

The ex-Leeds Rhinos star has visited the famous cobbles to meet with the actors at the centre of the plot.

Burrow, who was one of the people who inspired the storyline, has sought to raise awareness of the condition since being diagnosed in 2019.

He said he hoped showing the affects of MND would make "a big difference".

"I'm blown away from the response I've had, but Coronation Street will have the awareness on a whole new level," said Burrow.

"I think people who are looking for someone who will acknowledge the amount of work and time that goes into a patient with this horrible disease, I think that this will help bring it home."

MND affects the brain and nerves and causes weakness that gets worse over time.

There is no cure for MND, but there are treatments to help reduce the impact on a person's daily life.

The soap will follow the impact of MND on builder Paul Foreman and his partner

His wife Lindsey said: "I think not having to explain over and over again what MND is, just bringing it into people's living rooms will have a massive effect.

"I'm a massive Coronation Street fan, I grew up watching it with my mum and dad, so to be here actually on the cobbles is quite surreal."

The storyline, which was also inspired by Rugby Union player Doddie Weir, will follow the impact of MND on builder Paul Foreman, played by Peter Ash.

"We've been working on it for some time now," he told BBC Breakfast.

"There's been a lot of work, a lot of research, just making sure we get it right.

"It's going to be quite a long journey."

Lindsey Burrow has said she is a "massive fan" of the soap

Paul's partner Billy Mayhew is played by Daniel Brocklebank, who has been an ambassador for the MND Association (MNDA) for the past 20 years after his grandfather died from the disease.

"I will have a huge amount of experience to draw upon and hopefully that will help the realism of telling the story," he said.

"It's doubly special, to not only be able to raise awareness, but also to commemorate all the people that I've known over the last 20 years and the association who work tirelessly to try and find a cure.

"I know that my grandfather would be more than happy for me to be discussing it, it's a subject very close to my heart."

Tanya Curry, MNDA chief executive, said the MND community were "so grateful" for the storyline because "awareness is everything and the education is everything".