Former England captain Lewis Moody has been touched by the “outpouring of love and support” which followed his motor neurone disease diagnosis.
The 2003 World Cup winner revealed last month he had the incurable muscle-wasting condition which caused the death of fellow rugby players Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow and Joost van der Westhuizen.
Moody was given a warm welcome by everyone at Allianz Stadium when he carried the match ball on to the pitch ahead of England’s Test against Australia on Saturday, while a GoFundMe page has been set up to help support the former Leicester flanker and his family.
“It’s been a whirlwind. It’s been wonderful in the sense of the outpouring of love and support, which has just been constant,” Moody told BBC Breakfast.
“It’s been slightly overwhelming at times, but it all comes from such a beautiful and wonderful place.
“It’s been a strange time, but for me and my family, we’ve just felt that warm embrace of everyone coming around us and supporting us.
“My background is in rugby and people talk about that community, but the MND community that I’m now a part of has just really embraced us and we feel really lucky as a family to be a part of it.”
Moody – nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’ in a career which produced 71 caps, three Tests for the British and Irish Lions as well as multiple domestic and European titles during a golden era for his club Leicester – remains determined to stay positive.
“I have small symptoms in the hand and shoulder. The only real effect it has on you is in the back of your mind. It lingers,” he said.
“Trying to park that and focus on the every day. Getting the most joy that you physically can out of every day. Feeling that you have a purpose and applying yourself.”
