Let’s take a trip to West Yorkshire, England, where a rare disease story is unfolding in the intense world of rugby.
Rob Burrow is a retired English professor turned rugby player who just retired from the Leeds Rhinos to pursue a career off the field with the team’s staff.
During his last game, he came off the bench during the second half and set up the kick that would change the course of the game.
Instead of hanging up his boots, he’s selling them on an online auction to raise money for Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome Support Group. Burrow has been a member of this group for several years.
Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) is an extremely rare genetic disorder that affects organs and is typically characterized by growth delays, unique facial features, intellectual disability, among many other problems. It also runs the risk of leading to heart and kidney defects. To learn more about RTS, click here.
Burrow has been a fierce supporter of the RTS community by donating his prize money to the Support Group. He’s auctioning off his Grand Final prize money and hopes that this will raise a sense of awareness toward this disease that most people haven’t heard of. It’s a personal issue with Burrow as one of his closest family friends is affected by RTS. According to Burrow in the Yorkshire Evening Post,
“The RTS group is something I have been involved with over the years and I thought this was a nice way to do something for them,” he said. “It’s a small charity and they don’t get much money. I was at one of their lunches the other day and I was going to do it then, but I thought it might raise more money if I did it on Ebay.”
Burrow’s said the boots are a special item to him because he only wore them once during the final. He plans to autograph and personalize them and meet whoever wants to purchase them.
