Brutal road run after surgery convinced Ramsey he could make incredible comeback
Scott Bailey
An emotional Cody Ramsey has told how a doctor’s prank and a brutal four-kilometre road run just hours after leaving hospital convinced him he could one day return to the NRL.
Ramsey completed the most inspired comeback of this decade on Saturday night, overcoming his battle with ulcerative colitis to return to the top level.
Ramsey, who was called up to the Sydney Roosters wing to replace Mark Nawaqanitawase in the 38-24 win over Brisbane, praised his return as “much better” than all his debuts.
During the 1,337 days between NRL matches, the winger spent seven months in a hospital bed, lost 27kg and had to learn to eat again. He had his colon removed and had to go to the toilet 40 times a day, at one stage fearing it was making his life “unlivable”.
At times, Ramsey asked doctors to put him in a coma so he could no longer feel pain, while also dealing with the risk of life-threatening sepsis infections.
A growing family and rugby league with his partner Tahlia remained a beacon of hope for the 26-year-old, despite doctors telling him he would never play again. But his perspective changed when a surgeon at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse jokingly asked him to go easy on the Wests Tigers on his return.
“He was the one who cut me off, the one who made the comebacks,” Ramsey said.
“So I thought, ‘If he thinks I’m going to do this, it’s just up to me. If I can get myself back and do the right things, then why wouldn’t I?’
“If you see a 62kg person walking around and saying he’s going to play the NRL again, it’s very easy not to believe him. But I did. My family believed him.
“I couldn’t have done this easily, but if I didn’t try, I would have to live inside my own head for the rest of my life.”
Ramsey wasted little time in pursuing his cause, and at one point tested himself just hours after leaving the hospital from one of several surgeries.
“We left the hospital and I just told my wife that I was going to run away. [four kilometres] to my father’s house,” recalls the Molong product: “And if I don’t do this, I will never be able to return to football.
“I had a wound on my stomach, I had my phone in my hand in case something went wrong.
“I remember when I was running the Dapto Highway, I weighed 62 kilos. Honestly, it took me forever. I almost killed myself.
“But once I did it, I was like, ‘I can do it.’ It’s so mental. It’s all in your head.”
Realizing something was wrong when he started bleeding in the toilet in 2022, Ramsey returned to St George Illawarra training in May 2024 and played in the NSW Cup last year before moving to the Roosters.
Even at the comeback point on Saturday night, Ramsey remains 10kg lighter than he was in his 2020 debut as a 20-year-old with the Dragons.
Meanwhile, he convinced himself that this was a matter of mind over matter.
“Every time I ran all year long I felt like I had to go to the bathroom,” Ramsey said. “But I thought: what’s the worst thing that could happen to me?
“I’m going to shit my pants. That’s it, that’s the worst.”
“Then I didn’t do it in that one practice, then I didn’t do it that week, and then I didn’t do it that month.
“Then I got into the game and didn’t do it. It’s just something in your head telling you you’re not going to do it.”
AAP
