EDINBURGH’S “gentle giant” is to receive a prestigious award from his home city recognising his outstanding contribution to the capital, sport and charity.
Rugby legend George “Doddie” Weir, who is battling motor neurone disease, will be presented with the Edinburgh Award and have his handprints set in stone at the City Chambers later this year.
The former Scotland player will become the 12th person to receive the award, following the likes of cyclist Sir Chris Hoy and writers JK Rowling and Ian Rankin.
The award will recognise his rugby career and his ongoing work with motor neurone disease (MND) charities. He announced in 2017 that he had been diagnosed with the condition.
“Doddie is not only an inspiring sportsman but a real champion of MND research, helping to raise awareness through his own foundation and provide much-needed funds towards finding a cure for this disease,” said Edinburgh Lord Provost Frank Ross. “He is Edinburgh’s gentle giant, as well-respected and loved by citizens as much as his peers and rugby fans.
“Doddie really has made an outstanding contribution to sport, to charity and to the capital. The Edinburgh Award is the city’s way of recognising all that he has achieved.”
Weir, 48, began his professional rugby career at Melrose RFC, before going on to play for Scotland and the Newcastle Falcons.
He said: “I am hugely honoured and humbled to receive the prestigious Edinburgh Award, especially when I see the names of those who have received it before me. Edinburgh has been good to me – it’s where I was born, I was educated at Stewart’s Melville College and began my rugby career here, and of course I have a special connection with Murrayfield.”
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