Roosters hero Cody Ramsey was close to tears in summing up his miracle comeback from ulcerative colitis to the NRL four years after his last game for the Dragons in 2022.
An ankle injury to Mark Nawaqanitawase saw Ramsey come off the bench to run for 77 metres, including a tackle bust and three tackles in the Roosters chaotic 38-24 win over the Broncos in Round 9.
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However, given Ramsey was told time and again he would never play again, it was just a miracle he was on the field, after his battle with a career threatening disease.
“It is a helter skelter game and it’s all about performance and everything but sometimes there are emotions that sits below it,” Cooper Cronk said on Fox League.
“Cody Ramsey played the first game in a long, long time. Jersey number 18. How proud is it a moment for you as a coach but give us a bit of insight to his challenges and he just turned up tonight.”
Roosters coach Trent Robinson paid tribute to Ramsey the man and the player after his heroic return.
“He walked in back in November Cody and I think his issues with his gut and the operations that he’s had and the time that he’s spent out,” Robinson said.
“And then since that day he’s brought so much energy to our group. He’s such a good man. He’s always on top of the ground. He’s always asking how to improve and he’s been ready to play in NRL for about six weeks.
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Cody Ramsey played his first game in the NRL since 2022 after battling ulcerative colitis.Source: FOX SPORTS
A choked up Ramsey thanked the Roosters and his former club the Dragons for their amazing support in turning his life and career around in terrible circumstances.
“It’s been crazy and I didn’t do it alone that’s for sure,” Ramsey said.
“Even the first week that I come to the Roosters they sat me down with a dietitian and just changed my life within one week, so it’s just so special what they’ve done for me.
“And on the cusp of that, I’ve done so much with the Dragons too. They’ve done so much for me and to get the opportunity to play for such a prestigious club.
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Roosters outlast defiant Broncos | 02:29
“I’m just so stoked and just for Robbo just to have the belief that if someone goes down for me to go into that back five it’s just it’s really exciting.”
Ramsey was more thankful to the Roosters for believing in him and allowing him to build his body back into a rugby league player and help him live a normal life away from the game.
“Honestly it means the world,” Ramsey said.
“From a week before I even got here the things that they’ve done for me and it wasn’t even about putting on weight because I was about 77 kilos when I did come to the Roosters and it wasn’t about putting on weight it was about just being me and being confident and there is an aura about the club that they give you.
“It’s just about backing myself and then the weight did come with everything the people that they had around me, the dietitians and then I got to that 86 kilo mark, which is I feel is right for me.”
Ramsey return “A special moment” | 08:28
Ramsey explained the brutal reality about his diagnosis and what he went through, but was thankful he didn’t listen to the experts that said he would never play again.
“Ulcerative Colitis is large bowel disease and it targets your large intestine,” Ramsey said.
“And when we found my diagnosis it was pretty much burnt bread (dead) the whole bowel, so I had my whole large bowel removed and it left me with a stump and it’s connected to your bottom.
“I had a stoma for six months and that’s a bag. I had a stoma reversal, that’s where they connect your small bowel to your large bowel and I guess it’s gravity fed by food, so I had to reintroduce every food I’ve ever eaten back into my new stomach.
Carrigan reflects on Bronx costly start | 06:07
“Too much water and you have to balance out your food with your water and I guess I’m not really on any medication, it’s all natural and just figuring out what I need to eat.
“But it’s an awful disease and it happens to 1 in 100 people, but when I found it in 2022 it was irreversible and we kind of just had to deal with the challenges from there.
“So I guess that you can see why they said not to come back but it’s really lucky I didn’t believe them.”