Abi Burton is poised to make her England debut in Saturday’s Six Nations fixture with Wales – three years after almost dying from a rare brain illness.
Her story is remarkable.
She spent 25 days in an induced coma in 2022, was sectioned after an initial misdiagnosis from doctors, contracted pneumonia twice and lost over three stone in weight.
Those tribulations will make a Red Roses appearance off the bench in Cardiff even “sweeter” for the Ealing Trailfinders backrow.
Burton has been named as a replacement for England’s Six Nations clash with Wales on Saturday
Speaking to Sky Sports News about her return to rugby after an intense battle with autoimmune encephalitis, Burton said: “I was always hoping [an England 15s debut] would come at some point but the fact that I’ve been able to do it in less than a three-year turnaround, I’m really proud of myself for that.
“I thought that I could go straight back into rugby, but I’d lost 20 kilos. I couldn’t talk or walk, I couldn’t read, couldn’t write. I couldn’t really do anything on my own.
“Coming to the realisation with that, I then started to progress a lot quicker. I wanted to recover so quickly but I just had to be kind to myself during that time.
“I wouldn’t sit here and say I don’t wish that it ever happened. I think that it’s changed me for the better and it just makes this journey so much sweeter now.
“The fact I can also use my platform to help spread awareness around this illness – hopefully we’re curing more people and more people aren’t losing their lives.”
Burton played rugby sevens for Team GB in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics
‘My parents helped save my life’
Burton – who competed for Team GB in rugby sevens at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics – says “alarm bells” were triggered for her family after she started having seizures, which followed a change in mood and her voice also altering.
She was then placed in a psychiatric unit for over three weeks after violent outbursts and “manic behaviour” and thanks her parents for belligerently arguing that her illness was not mental and for “helping save her life”.
On being sectioned, Burton said: “Your body goes into fight or flight and I started to be quite aggressive towards anyone around me – punching people in the face, fighting anybody who would come near me. Obviously, that’s quite psychotic behaviour.
“The doctors looked straight towards my behavioural issues at the time. We later found out that I didn’t have any psychotic issues, more a physical illness.
“I can’t tell you what the psychiatric unit was like as from when I started to act depressed until I woke up from the coma, I have no memory at all.
“Mum and dad were there throughout it all. They basically helped save my life. They fought for everything for me. They knew that I didn’t have a psychotic illness.
“One of the real vivid memories I have when I woke up from my coma was holding both their hands and crying. I just knew in that moment that I was going to be okay.
“They took shifts coming in to see me in the hospital. Sometimes my dad would sleep in the car overnight just to make sure that I would be okay. They are real-life superheroes.
“I’m incredibly proud of the journey they’ve been through. They came out with a lot of trauma but they’ve been able to deal with that together and through external help and they can see this new lease of life that I’ve now got as well.
“I think they’re proud in whatever I do but this is probably one of the first times in a long time they’ve really seen me enjoy rugby.
“They love coming to watch me play and seeing me express myself on the pitch, which I might have lost in the past couple of years playing sevens
“[An England debut] will be a very special moment for me, but I think for them as well. I hope I make them proud.”
