Lewis Moody’s wife Annie posted a touching message after the England rugby hero revealed he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Moody, who helped England win the Rugby World Cup in 2003, was diagnosed with MND two weeks ago and went public with the news on Monday.
The exact cause of MND is unknown but elite athletes appear to be more likely to contract the muscle-wasting condition, which killed fellow rugby players Rob Burrow and Doddie Weir.
Moody held back tears as he opened up on his diagnosis while sat next to his wife Annie, who he married in 2006.
The 47-year-old said telling his mum and two teenage children was the ‘hardest part’ since he was told of his diagnosis.
‘It’s never me that I feel sad for,’ he told BBC Sport. ‘It’s the sadness around having to tell my mum – as an only child – and the implications that has for her.’
Discussing how he broke the heartbreaking news to 17-year-old Dylan and 15-year-old Ethan Moody added: ‘It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. They are two brilliant boys and that was pretty heartbreaking.
‘We sat on the couch in tears, Ethan and Dylan both wrapped up in each other, then the dog jumped over and started licking the tears off our faces, which was rather silly.’
Moody’s wife Annie celebrated her love for Lewis in a touching post on Instagram after the news broke.
‘Forever,’ she wrote with a heart emoji. ‘We’ve got this babe x’.
Discussing his diagnosis, Moody said: ‘There’s something about looking the future in the face and not wanting to really process that at the minute.
‘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.
‘Maybe that’s shock or maybe I process things differently, and once I have the information, it’s easier.’
More to follow…