BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker could barely hold back the tears on today’s show after rugby player Kevin Sinfield’s charity fundraising journey was displayed in a montage.
During the last week, Kevin, who was a former Leeds Rhinos player has taken up the ultimate challenge of completing seven marathons, one per day.
More impressively, the sports man completed each marathon within the four hour marker and has since racked up over £1.8million in charitable donations.
Kevin had set his sights on initially raising £77,777 in the name of his chum Rob burrow, who had sadly been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Dan Walker struggled to fight back the tears after listening to Kevin’s charitable fundraising (Image: BBC)
Watching the gruelling challenge at hand and after Kevin had finished his final run, host Dan Walker was overcome with emotion as he tried hard to fight back the tears.
Producers of the show had pulled together a number of segments from his entire journey from start to end, adding particular emphasis to his strong friendship with Rob.
The message was clear, in that Kevin had put his entire body through immense paces in a bid to support and fundraise for his pal.
Kevin has selflessly ran seven marathon’s in the last week – one per day, in the name of charity (Image: BBC)
As the short segment came to a close, there was silence across the studio as Dan and co-host Sally Nugent tried hard to keep it together.
Soon after the camera shot to Dan, who struggled for words, before adding: “Got caught… Got caught by the emotions of all that.”
He went on: “And I think so many people watching that who maybe didn’t know too much about what Rob was going through beforehand and then hearing about why Kevin was running and why it meant so much to him.
Kevin’s friend Rob was diagnosed with motorneurone disease which spurred on the fundraiser
“I know our viewers and many other people as well felt very proud to be just a small part of being able to donate to an amazing cause and feel part of what is a really special story isn’t it?”
The topic of conversation later changed to Kevin’s incredible fundraising after his current donation total was relayed.
Setting his sights high, he thought it would be a mean feat to get anywhere near to his original target of £77,777 but was “overwhelmed” and “blow away” by the generosity of strangers who had supported his cause.
Speaking to Sally, he said: “I just can’t thank people enough – it’s been the best week of my life.”
Kevin proved to be a very special visitor to the BBC, becoming the first guest to enter the live studio since March.
BBC Breakfast continues daily at 6am on BBC One
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
