From A Coma To A World Cup In Three Years - Burton Savours Comeback

Womens' Rugby World Cup Pool A: England v Australia

Venue: Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium Date: Saturday 6 September Kick-off: 17:00 BST

Coverage: Live connected BBC Two, BBC Radio Sports Extra, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app

As Abi Burton listened to God Save nan King ringing retired astir Franklin's Gardens, nan emotions rolled in.

"When we were singing nan anthem, my eyes started to capable up and I was for illustration 'stop it, extremity it'," she told BBC Sport.

There was pridefulness successful those tears. Not conscionable pridefulness successful nan Rugby World Cup debut to come, but besides successful making it to nan tourney astatine all.

Three summers ago, nan England flanker was successful a coma.

It was a fewer months aft her return from nan Tokyo Olympics successful 2021, that Burton first seemed unwell. Then 22, she lacked power and seemed to beryllium struggling pinch depression.

Doctors presumed that Burton's intelligence wellness had been impact by a superior knee injury.

But things spiralled. Burton had a seizure arsenic she sat astatine nan meal array pinch her mother. Her behaviour became manic. She punched her mother successful nan face. She tried to headbutt her younger brothers and to tally retired of nan location unclothed. Her family, fearing for what Burton mightiness do next, hid nan room knives.

She was sectioned to a psychiatric ward successful Wakefield, wherever doctors rans tests for schizophrenia aliases bipolar disorder. And recovered she was had neither.

In nan absence of a diagnosis, Burton's distress continued.

She would rip cannulas – tubes that present medicine straight into veins - retired of her arms. She attempted to break retired of nan ward, crashing done magnetic doors and barging done information guards., external

Eventually a master successful autoimmune illness had a hunch that Burton's intelligence symptoms had a beingness cause. A humor trial confirmed autoimmune encephalitis, a uncommon information successful which nan body's immune strategy mistakenly attacks nan brain.

Burton was excessively agitated to dainty however. So her family made nan difficult determination to spot her successful a medically-induced coma. It was expected to beryllium for 3 days. It turned retired to past astir 4 weeks.

Her parents would slumber successful nan car successful nan infirmary car parkland to beryllium adjacent their daughter. They were told that Burton whitethorn only look from nan coma pinch encephalon damage. Or whitethorn not aftermath up astatine all.

When she did travel retired of nan coma she had initially mislaid nan expertise to walk, talk, publication aliases constitute and much than 3 chromatic successful weight.

"The 1 point that really sticks pinch maine is that erstwhile you aftermath up, you deliberation you're alright," says Burton.

"They took maine to nan stairs to effort and locomotion up nan stairs and I conscionable collapsed beneath myself.

"I couldn't understand why my assemblage couldn't do thing truthful basic. That's erstwhile I realised it mightiness beryllium a spot longer of a roadworthy to betterment than I initially thought."

While this backstage trauma played out, Burton's erstwhile Sevens team-mates were competing astatine a location Commonwealth Games successful Birmingham.

It seemed improbable Burton would ever return to specified heights.

Yet, she did.

After a year's intensive rehabilitation, she signed for Premiership Women's Rugby broadside Trailfinders Women successful 2023 and made nan Great Britain Sevens squad for Paris nan pursuing summer.

Burton was called into John Mitchell's squad for this year's Six Nations and scored 2 tries disconnected nan chair connected her debut against Wales.

She did not transverse against successful nan 92-3 triumph complete Samoa connected Saturday, but Burton knows not each successes show up connected nan scoresheet.

"I saw my grandparents, mum and dad, my relative successful nan crowd during nan anthems," she remembers.

"It was conscionable super, ace special. They were each affectional arsenic well.

"They went done hellhole and backmost complete nan past mates of years and nan truth that we get to travel retired nan extremity of it and mum and dada tin spot that I'm thriving, my 2 younger brothers are thriving arsenic good - we conscionable want to acquisition those family moments together."

There were different well-wishers successful nan crowd. One of nan Team GB doctors was besides astatine Franklin's Gardens.

As they met aft nan game, she pulled up a photograph connected her telephone for Burton.

"It was 3 years agone astir to nan time that she had visited maine successful hospital," says Burton.

"I effort not to deliberation astir nan travel excessively much, to conscionable get my caput successful nan rugby, but it was for illustration 'woah, that really did happen.'"

Burton has won battles acold much important than immoderate lucifer she will play successful nan adjacent 4 weeks.