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Footy star makes emotional return to the pitch after spending seven months in hospital where he lost 28kg following battle with chronic illness Cody Ramsey made his return to the pitch on Sunday after an 896-day hiatus The St George star was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the end of 2022 By ED CARRUTHERS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA Published: 12:02 GMT, 16 February 2025 | Updated: 12:03 GMT, 16 February 2025 e-mail View comments Cody Ramsey last stepped foot on a rugby league pitch back in September 2022. On Sunday, he celebrated his 25th birthday and also made his return to the footy pitch, 896 days after that match back in 2022. It's been a long and tough road for the St George front rower to get to this point and he had even doubted that he may never be able to run out in the red and white of St George again.
That came after he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2022 and was told by doctors that he would never play professional footy again. But the defiant Dragon had other ideas. Today he made an emotional return to the field after featuring for St George during a New South Wales Cup trial against the Roosters at Henson Park.
During that hiatus from football, the 25-year-old father of two underwent multiple surgeries and lost nearly 28kg during his battle with the chronic bowel disease, which affects approximately 100,000 people in Australia. His fiancée Tahlia, who was pregnant with their eldest daughter Mia, selflessly supported him throughout the ordeal, sleeping in a hospital chair beside his bed as he went through treatment. Cody Ramsey has made an emotional return to the footy pitch after an 896-day hiatus due to a chronic bowel illness View this post on Instagram A post shared by St George Illawarra Dragons (@nrl_dragons) After he came on for a 30-minute hit out in the second half, he cut an emotional figure when he exited the field of play, running over to his partner and their children, Mia and Ella.
'I went back and sat on the bench and my daughter Mia, she’s about 13 months old, she was on the side of the field waiting for me so I sort of lost it then and then I have a three-week-old newborn also, so I got to see her and my partner and just hugged them and I was super emotional,' he said to The Daily Telegraph. 'My partner Tahlia, especially, she’s been there and obviously my family, but she pretty much looked after me through everything. It’s been super emotional for us.
'She was pregnant in the hospital when I was going through the majority of my surgeries. She wasn’t sick but she was struggling and she slept on one of those hospital chairs for six or seven months while I was in there.' He also revealed that the pair had gotten engaged over the summer.
'We went down to a resort down the coast, just pretty casual, just me and her and Mia. 'If I didn’t know (she was the one) by then, there had to be something wrong with me. 'She’s always been that way, but the things that she’s done for me, I don’t think I could ever repay her.
' View this post on Instagram A post shared by St George Illawarra Dragons (@nrl_dragons) Ramsey was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis back in 2022 and had feared that he would never play rugby league again Ramsey's friends, family and team-mates all made the trip out to Marrickville to watch him return to the pitch and a huge cheer went up as he stepped back onto the field in the second term. 'Every day that I sat in hospital, I thought about getting out on that field and today I got the opportunity,' he said to the club. 'My whole family's here.
'It was very emotional, but I feel like I'm well prepared. I wouldn't put myself out there if I didn't think I was in the right position.' While he revealed that he never thought that his kids would be able to watch him play rugby league, Ramsey revealed that this is only the beginning of a new journey revealing that he now needs to put some weight on as he looks to continue his return to the NRL.
'I’ve just got to get some weight on, I’ve put on at least 18 kilos since I left hospital, but I’m still at least 10 down,' Ramsey, who currently weighs around 80kg, said. Today he made his return to the footy pitch and praised his family and fiancée for supporting him He had weighed around 90kg when he turned out for the Dragons 896 days ago in the NRL in 2022. Because of his condition, Ramsey has a slightly smaller bowel than most, which means he needs to use the toilet more regularly and that can make it a little harder to gain weight.
But defiantly, he is not letting that get to him and is gunning to make it back into the NRL. 'I’ve never seen my dad take a day off work and my mum works 15 hours a day at the pub, so I’m not going to victimise myself,' he said. 'You just kind of get up and get s*** done, to be honest.
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