In June this year, former rugby star Rob Burrow died at the age of 41 after a long battle with MND
On Monday’s instalment of BBC Breakfast, hosts Sally Nugent and Ben Thompson spoke to Coronation Street’s Peter Ash and Daniel Brocklebank ahead of their upcoming episode.
In the ITV soap, viewers have seen Paul Winter’s (played by Peter Ash) health deteriorate after being diagnosed with MND.
Recently Coronation Street have confirmed fans will witness a special episode this week that will be entirely devoted to a day in the life of an MND sufferer. With the powerful instalment being dedicated to the memory of Rugby League legend Rob Burrow, his dad Geoff issued a statement.
Sally told the two soap stars what Geoff had to say as she read out his kind words about the soap’s portrayal of the disease.
It said: “For Coronation Street to run a storyline about MND must have been a hard decision, but they have tackled this horrible disease with a very balanced storyline that reflects the struggles that the MNC suffered and their loved ones are going through.
“As a family we pray that this episode will be watched by millions and continues to raise awareness of this most heartbreaking of diseases. Thank you Coronation Street.”
Touched by Geoff’s words, Peter called the statement “amazing” as Daniel highlighted that he also hopes the episode will be watched by the masses.
He said: “Like Pete said when we started this story, he didn’t know much about MND and I think, certainly with everything that Rob’s managed to achieve, teamed with our storyline, in the last two years I’ve seen more awareness for MND than I’ve ever seen in the two decades that I’ve been working alongside the MND association.”
Sharing some harrowing statistics, the soap star informed the BBC hosts that six people a day are diagnosed with the disease.
Speaking about the upcoming episode, producer Verity MacLeod said: “Paul’s MND has been such an important, powerful story and this episode is one of the real pinnacle moments in Paul’s journey.
“Coronation Street has never done anything like this before, it is extraordinary, heartbreaking, funny and beautiful. Must see television at its best!
“One thing we were keen to show in this episode is that due to motor neurone disease, Paul’s speech has now deteriorated to the point where he is unable to speak to his loved ones unaided by technology, which while brilliant, can be slow and restrictive.
“However, Paul’s brain is still completely active, his personality hasn’t changed. He still has a wicked sense of humour and is the quick-witted cheeky chappy we first met in 2018.”
