Heartbreak as former Bath star reveals he has MND

FORMER England captain and 2003 World Cup winner Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

- STAFF REPORTERS

> Leading England onto the pitch in the 2011 Rugby World Cup and, right, in 2015

(PA)

The 47-year-old, who lives in Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, told BBC Breakfast of his diagnosis yesterday, two weeks after being given the news.

“There’s something about looking the future in the face and not wanting to really process that at the minute,” the former Bath star said.

“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.”

Fellow rugby players Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow have died from the illness in recent years, with rugby - and in particular England skills coach Kevin Sinfield - embracing a high-profile fundraising campaign to tackle it.

“You're given this diagnosis of MND and we're rightly quite emotional about it, but it’s so strange because I feel like nothing’s wrong,” Moody added.

“I don’t feel ill. 1 don’t feel unwell.

“My symptoms are very minor. I have a bit of muscle wasting in the hand and the shoulder.