Rugby star Freddie Burns was in tears as he read out messages form Leicester Tigers fans ahead of his final match for the club.
Burns became hugely emotional as he read one particular message on BBC Radio Leicester from a Tigers fan whose grandfather had passed away shortly after Burns' dramatic last-gasp drop goal won last season's Premiership final.
The 32-year-old starts a new chapter in his career next week when he moves to New Zealand to play for the Highlanders. He plays one final match for Leicester this weekend, starting ta full-back against Northampton.
Ahead of that final appearance, BBC Radio Leicester asked Tigers fans to submit their memories of Burns, who has had two stints at the club. The player himself was then asked to read them out loud.
The final message Burns read aloud began: “My first Tigers game, I was taken by grandpa. You [Burns] were playing and I had the pleasure of meeting you after the game.
“I grabbed a photo with my grandpa and he had it on the mantlepiece of me with Freddie. Fast forward to the Premiership final many years later and my grandpa was extremely unwell the weekend of the final. Having been at Twickenham it was an incredible experience and all the work you had put in as a club came to a head that day and I couldn’t have been prouder.
“Shortly after the final the same night my grandpa sadly passed away. Before this, he couldn’t remember much at this point and could hardly speak at all. However, his last memories were…"
At thins point, Burns paused reading the letter aloud, simply saying "oh wow!” He then read the final words of the letter in silence as tears welled up in his eyes. “I am not sure I can finish that," he said, before reading aloud the message.
The letter continued: “His last memories were watching the final on TV. We had a catch-up that night and so his last words to me were: "Your man from the photo won us the Premiership, didn’t he?’”
Burns wiped away tears, continuing to read the letter. “We spoke about it, the final, and how proud he was. I just wanted to say how incredibly grateful I am to Fred and cherish the last moments he gave me and my grandpa together.”
Burns told the BBC radio reporter he was sitting with. “What are you doing to me! I actually lost my grandpa last year straight after the London Irish game. So yeah, wow. Thanks!”
Posted on Twitter by BBC Radio Leicester, the two-minute video has been watched by 400,000 people.
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