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From a coma to Hong Kong 7s: The 'unbelievable' Abi Burton story
The HSBC SVNS Series is a melting pot of inspiring stories from a whole host of different backgrounds. For instance, Brazilian playmaker Raquel Kochhann, a two-time Olympian, was recently featured on RugbyPass TV telling her motivating account about her successful recovery from breast cancer to playing for his country again.
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She is not alone in beating the odds with Great Britain player Abi Burton another example of a player going from fighting for life to starring back out on the rugby field. It was spring 2022 when the now 24-year-old Tokyo Olympian was in crisis.
Buton was having seizures and spent 25 days wrongly sectioned with a misdiagnosis. Eventually, she was diagnosed with autoimmune MDA receptor encephalitis, an illness where the body mistakenly attacks the brain.
Her agitated state resulted in her being placed in a medically induced 28-day coma. Two years later, she had just completed a joyous walk around the stadium perimeter with his GB teammates when she stopped by the Hong Kong Stadium tunnel to chat with RugbyPass.
“Oh God, I must be over 100 now,” she chuckled when asked what her selfie count was after her team’s ninth-place play-off win over Brazil was followed by a delightful mingling session with fans, including those decked out in fancy dress on from the famed South Stand.
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“Everybody wanted to support us and we love it. We love the support. That is what matters to us the most. It’s amazing. You don’t get to experience anything like this wherever you go. Probably the only similar one is Dubai but it’s not as big as that. It’s super special. It’s the last one that is going to be here so we just made sure we took everything in.”
No one would begrudge Burton from taking everything in given her onerous sacrifice to make it back to rugby, a story that is now the subject of a HSBC documentary that will soon premiere. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to do it without my teammates, without my family – they are a really big contributing factor for me to be able to get better.
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“You see a lot of people who have this illness who can’t really ever walk or talk properly again and they have to have family members look after them for the rest of their lives, but I was really lucky that a year on I was sat in the stands cheering the girls on and a year on I am now playing international rugby again.
“It’s unbelievable and just the belief from the girls thinking I could still do it, that’s what kept me going because there were a lot of times where I thought this was too big of a mountain for me to climb.
“You really just go down to rock bottom physically and mentally so without the support of them rallying around me I probably wouldn’t have been able to come back and then when I finally got named on that team sheet it was a super special moment.
“I was diagnosed with a rare brain illness that affects one in 1.6million people. It can come from anything. It can come from a bite; it can be autoimmune, and it can affect anybody and it’s really important for me to get that message out there because I was undiagnosed.
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“I really struggled, and I nearly lost my life because I was undiagnosed and the fact I have this platform now to be able to share with people, I need to be able to do that and I need to be able to spread awareness. It’s really important that no matter what struggles me and my family went through that I can talk about it and share it.
“When I think about it I’m basically repeating everything that I have been told from my mum and my dad because I actually don’t remember that time at all. The first thing I remember is waking up from the coma and not really having a clue what had happened.
— Hong Kong Sevens (@OfficialHK7s) April 12, 2024
“But I have a good support network around me when sometimes I do struggle still and having them around me really helps me so it allows me to be able to share my story.”
What is her story’s legacy? “That this is a new version of me, I don’t have to be like the old version. A lot of things happened and I don’t have to try and be Burty. I’m Burty 2.0 now, so that’s what is what my message is.”
Back to the rugby. Brazil scoring a late try last Saturday cost Great Britain quarter-final qualification despite their 17-12 win, but Sunday’s 14-5 success in the ninth-place decider has kept Burton’s eighth-place team two points clear of the ninth-placed Brazilians on the HSBC SVNS Series table heading into the final leg in Singapore before the Madrid Grand Final.
“It’s massively important for the standings, for our confidence moving forward, especially if we come up against them, we know that we have got two really good games under our belt and they ain’t pretty so we know we can grind out two really good wins, so it is massively important,” figured Burton.
“The scoreline was a factor on Saturday; we knew how much we needed to beat them by to get into the quarter-finals. Sunday, the main focus was we just needed to beat them, we needed to stay ahead of them because if we didn’t we would be going to Singapore on the same points. If we did beat them we’re two points up, so we always knew the context of the game going into it.
“We will take a mix from Hong Kong. In our first two games against New Zealand and France, we feel like we could have done better to put ourselves into a position to get to the quarter-finals, but also there are loads of positives to take from the weekend with grinding out two really, really great wins against Brazil, beating South Africa and just being able to move forward.”
Hong Kong 7s was frustrating for Brazil, their 12-17 loss to Great Britain leaving them with a 0-3 pool record…
– Here's Raquel Kochhann with Liam Heagney ?? #HK7s #HSBCSVNS #SVNSSeries #OfficialHK7s
Catch all the action live on RugbyPass TV https://t.co/z90EMWX9EI pic.twitter.com/973pVp6k93
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 6, 2024
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Rassie should bring in some new guys and give them a go in these irrelevant games. It’s a chance to blood some guys that might otherwise not get a chance and see if they’re up to it. As for the who’s number 1 dispute? Don’t care. As long as the trophies are brought home, that argument isn’t important. Champions don’t fuss about the could’ve, would’ve, should’ve. They just do, and that for me makes SA and NZ the top dogs. Followed by Ireland and occasionally England.
225 Go to commentsThis is like the “catches win matches" saying in cricket. If ABs were pragmatic and kicked for goal instead of hunting tries, I reckon they win that game with ease. Instead, nearly 6 months later; we have World Rugby's official mouthpiece celebrating their Almost Won the Rugby World Cup trophy. Fine Victory Gentleman! Well-earned!!
72 Go to comments“…the All Blacks nearly won…” is the only phrase you need to concern yourself with relative to this “journalistic” piece. Enjoy your Almost Won the World Cup victory…
72 Go to commentsAw common. Stop winging. There were no errors by officials. It is all recorded. Whose fault was the Cane red card? Or the Savea knock? Maybe the selectors who insisted on making a very average player their captain should be blamed. Something had to give way.
72 Go to commentsThe latest ‘Ireland are arrogant’ attack from one of the two most arrogant rugby nations on earth.
108 Go to commentsWaawaawaaaaaaaa
23 Go to commentsHow does this guy still have a job?
72 Go to commentsSorry bok you can't beat facts, we heard you all crowing how great you thought you were..lol ! We all watched the game, cheatsabeth cheating cost abs a try, only a penalty considering it was cynical and a professional foul, doesn't matter who wrote this because thats how it happened, but you go enjoy your gifting of the cup,
72 Go to commentsCan we talk about the context of how this particular journalist continues to make a living and gets published? Controversy for clicks. Shame on all of us for engaging with these irrelevant opinions.
72 Go to commentsAn astounding article !
72 Go to commentsFrance didn’t lose against New Zeland in 2011, but against Joubert…
72 Go to commentsHahahaha knew the “journalist” just by seeing the headline. Not wasting my time reading it as I know it's just another toxic manifestation of the boks living rent free in this babies head.
72 Go to commentsWhen you read those facts, you can say safely that the game was handed to the Springboks by the ruling mistakes made by the Referee and TMO. Perhaps that is why South Africans were/are so “noisey” about the win….this behaviour perhaps concealing that they realise luck played a big part in the result. Certainly not a good look for the IRB going forward…pretty shoddy sadly.
72 Go to commentsI must admit to being quite surprised by all the wine-ing and hand wringing from most AB pundits; commentators and the general analysis after a classic and engrossing final. I shudder to think how the pundits would’ve reacted if the AB’s where victors with 1 point on the day.. Most Bok fans pundits; fans and commentators take a loss on the chin; congratulate the winner and move on…and till now the NZ rugby fans where the same.. Naas Botha’s famous quote has never been more apt…. Cowboys don’t cry or make excuses.. STOP IT CRY-BABIES; …..YOU LOST.
72 Go to comments4 out of 8 beats 3 out of 10 cups. Maybe NZ are bad finishers???🤣🤣🤣
72 Go to commentsBokke bokke Bokke
1 Go to commentsThe main thing you need on your side to win a World Cup is luck. ABs had their fair share of it in the 2011 final. One score game in the SF vs Springboks in 2015 means there always things you can look at and say if this thing or that thing happened then SA would/should have won that game. Smith’s try being called back broke protocol, but it was the correct decision, so I don’t have a problem with that. If it was an SA try called back in the same circumstances I don’t think many ABS fans would have a problem with it. Cane’s shot was high, it was the classic thing NZ players have been doing, and getting carded for for years - Walking around bolt upright trying to put a big hit on someone. Stupid play by someone with a poor disciplinary record. The one that was a big problem for me was Etzebeth’s obstruction. The referee just choked on this occasion. Frustrating to have the TMO in his ear all night, apart from at this moment. Minimum yellow card for Etzebeth, but a very strong case for a penalty try also. Despite all that the ABs had the opportunity to be ahead with 3 minutes to play, so it’s hard to point fingers too much. Pollard makes that kick 99/100. JB and RM make it 50/100. That’s what it came down to in the end.
72 Go to commentsBOKS had a great side in 2011 and were in kicked out by a NZ ref and Nz were very lucky to win in final against France.
72 Go to commentsBarrett's try came from a forward pass, and perhaps the Bok game plan would have been different had the ABs remained with 15 on the pitch. We will never know. But if we are living in a world if what if's, then go back to the France v Bok game. France dominated the WC, and had they gotten past the boks, would have easily beaten the ABs in the Final
72 Go to commentsRehashed articles. But this piece does not do justice to how good the Boks had to be to win that tournament, and how immense some of their players were in that final. Peter Stef du Toit played one of the greatest games by a loose forward ever. All Blacks played well but not well enough and came up short. There are a million ‘if’s’ and none of the ‘if’s’ that don’t happen will win you a footy match.
72 Go to comments