‘One thing goes wrong, I’m burnt bread’: Dragon details horrific illness battle… and 2025 NRL goal

Dragons young gun Cody Ramsey has detailed his horrific battle with a severe illness which has kept him sidelined for two years.

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The 24-year-old has been battling ulcerative colitis, which can be the result of a malfunctioning immune system, causing ulcers and inflammation in the bowels.

Despite being told he’d never play rugby league again, Ramsey has defied the odds to return to Dragons training and even earmark a return to the NRL arena as early as next year.

Ramsey is back training with his Dragons teammates and the 24-year-old is earmarking a return to the NRL in 2025.

In a wide-ranging interview with the SMH, Ramsey explained just how dire his situation was and that playing footy again was at times, the least of his worries.

It was at a pre-season training two years ago, Ramsey felt something was amiss.

His concerns were justified when he lost 28 kilos in seven weeks, according to the SMH.

He was hospital-ridden for several months and underwent many surgeries.

“It was so never-ending,” Ramsey says.

“There were times where I was so close to sepsis, and obviously with sepsis, you get put in an induced coma.”

“And then, after I had a surgery, I had my old stoma closed up, and then I had faeces coming out of my stomach. Then it gets scary because if it’s coming out that hole, and if it seeps into my bloodstream, then there’s obviously a possibility that you’re gonna die. I nearly had that three times.

“With so many surgeries, one thing goes wrong and I’m burnt bread [dead].”

Ramsey is now back to the weight he was when he made his NRL debut four years ago.

It’s a remarkable recovery for someone who was told by a doctor that his “footy career is over” during the intial prognosis.

That would have dashed the dreams and psyche of many a young footballer. Not Ramsey.

“I looked at Dad and we both laughed. I was like, ‘Who are you to tell me that?’” Ramsey said while recounting what he was told by that first doctor.

Ramsey is behind the likes of Clint Gutherson and Tyrell Sloan on the Dragons’ fullback depth chart, but has big ambitions to repay the club for all they’ve done for him.

“You would have seen it out there today; they were kicking the ball to me and they were trying to smash me,” Ramsey said referring to his teammates.

“This club, they know from when I was walking around with a bag, I would just walk around and say that I’d come back.

“Everyone here knows that I’m gonna do it.

“The Dragons put me in a position to not worry about financially supporting my family … I had time to recover, reset.

“Just because you have something medically wrong with you, or you’ve been through a rough time, [you can still achieve your dreams].

“I don’t wanna play victim. I just wanna get on with life.”