Burton in 'dream' England women's rugby debut three years after 25-day coma
England's Abi Burton capped a "dream" Test debut by coming off the bench to score two tries as England hammered Wales in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday, three years after spending 25 days in a coma while battling encephalitis.
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The two-time Olympic Sevens competitor has made a remarkable comeback to elite rugby union after a 76-day stay in hospital in 2022 after dealing with the auto-immune condition which attacks the brain.
Burton lost three stone in weight and was wrongly detained under mental health regulations after an initial misdiagnosis.
The back-row forward came on with just 13 minutes of normal time left at Cardiff's Principality Stadium yet still managed to score two of England's 11 tries in the 67-12 rout.
"I'm so excited," Burton, 25, told the BBC. "I've tried not to let the emotion get the better of me this week but, honestly, this group is unbelievable and I'm so grateful to be a part of it, so yeah it was a dream debut.
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"Earlier on this week when we came for the team run I just stood here (on the pitch) and I just absolutely relished it. It's unbelievable and to make my debut here also is like a really big dream come true. Twickenham would be amazing, but this is also pretty cool as well."
Burton, speaking in midweek about the health problems she had overcome, said: "It's super freeing."
"I now play without the thought that I'm going to disappoint somebody or disappoint whoever's around me, because ultimately every time I step on to the pitch now, I think this could be the last time because there was a point where I didn't even ever think like that."
She added: "I probably took some of those moments, those five, six years that I had playing in international rugby in the Sevens, going to all these extraordinary places, probably took those for granted quite a bit.
"So now when I step on the pitch, good game, bad game, I'm just happy to be running around with my mates, smashing people up, doing what I love."
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