A Journey of Resilience and Redemption
Cody Ramsey’s return to the NRL is more than just a personal triumph—it’s a testament to his unyielding spirit and determination. After being told he would never play football again, Ramsey has defied the odds and made a remarkable comeback that has captivated fans and teammates alike.
“Ulcerative colitis is a large bowel disease and it targets your large intestine,” Ramsey explained. “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 that’s connected to your bottom.”
The journey was not easy. Ramsey had a stoma for six months, which meant living with a bag. He then underwent a stoma reversal, where his small bowel was connected to his large bowel, allowing food to be gravity-fed into his system. This meant reintroducing every food he had ever eaten back into his new stomach.
Ramsey was in high spirits during his third season at the Dragons in 2022 when his life changed forever. A rare disease that affects only one in 100 people struck him down, causing him to lose 28 kilos in seven weeks. He missed the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons but made an emotional return to reserve grade for the Red V last year. His dream became a reality on Saturday night when he made his NRL return after a 1337-day absence.
“This means a lot more,” he said when asked if this felt like a second debut. “The people around me and everyone at the club know what I’ve been through, so it’s definitely way better than the debut for sure.”
Ramsey wasn’t meant to play on Saturday, but that’s par for the course for someone who was told by his first surgeon that his rugby league career was over. However, a syndesmosis injury to Mark Nawaqanitawase saw him brought on in the first half against the Broncos. The emotion of the moment hit home as tears flowed when he reunited with friends and family at full-time.
“You kind of bring yourself back to when it first started and I guess being 62 kilos, and that was when it was the lowest of the low from then on,” he said. “I always said that I will get back to where I was. And I guess if you see a 62 kilo human being walking around saying he’s going to go play NRL again, it’s very easy not to believe him. But I did, and my family did.”
Ramsey’s journey has been filled with challenges, including two surgeries that left him feeling like his life was downhill from there. “The second surgeon, Jonathan Hong up at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, he said ‘take it easy on the Tigers when you get back.’ He was the one doing my reversal (reattaching the small intestine). So he already had some belief that I was going to do it, and I was always going to try, but he kind of just instilled that.”
The reversals were brutal, with Ramsey convincing himself early on that it was “un-liveable” as he was forced to go to the toilet 40 times a day. However, a 4km run from his place to his dad’s house convinced him he could get back. With a stomach wound and all, Ramsey ran along the Appin Highway with his phone in his hand in case he had to call his partner for help.
“I remember one time my stomach was completely split open after I had a reversal, and I was in that much pain and I was telling them to put me in a coma,” he said. “I was like, ‘just put me to sleep because I don’t want to (deal with this)’ and that’s kind of how it went.”
Despite the pain, Ramsey continued to push forward. “And then you get out, so I checked out of hospital, and I convinced my missus and I said ‘I’m just going to run to dad’s house, and if I don’t do it, I’ll never make it back into football.’ And I remember running down the Appin Highway. I was 62 kilos, and it took me forever, and it nearly killed me, but once I did it, I was like, ‘I can do it.’”
Ramsey joked that the biggest difference from the initial diagnosis to Saturday night was that he was 10 kilos heavier. Emotions are set to run high for the next few days as the enormity of his achievement sinks in.
The Roosters have played a part in his recent journey, with skipper James Tedesco thrilled to see his teammate back on the field. “He’s been an 18th man for us since the start of the year and just hearing his story and the journey he’s been on, I think all of us are all just happy to see him get back on the field.”
