Dragons star Cody Ramsey's miracle return after surgery, ulcerative colitis battle
From a hospital bed to a grand final – Dragons fullback Cody Ramsey completed rugby league’s most remarkable comebacks this year. This is why Sydney Roosters fans should be excited by the signing.
Cody Ramsey, the main character in one of the most inspiring rugby league comeback stories in the game’s history, is leaving the Red V, as reported by this masthead.
In September, David Riccio spoke to Ramsey about his journey from hospital bed to NSW Cup grand final.
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Rugby league’s comeback story of the year was played out in front of a few thousand people.
Yet Cody Ramsey couldn’t have cared less if the NSW Cup grand final between St George Illawarra and the Warriors was played in a hallway.
“I’ve literally experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,” Ramsey said.
“The doctors starved me for three months in hospital. I couldn’t eat one ounce of food. Nothing by mouth. It was just tube-fed and IV fluid.
“So if you asked me before I started playing this year, I probably wouldn’t have thought I’d be here on grand final day.”
Ramsey’s inspirational story reached another gripping chapter on Sunday when he lined up at fullback for the Dragons against the Warriors. They lost 30-12. But compared to what he has been through, it was but a small hurdle.
Returning to the game earlier this season after an 896-day hiatus as a result of an ulcerative colitis diagnosis, Ramsey has revealed his agonising and painstaking return to the footy field after having his entire large bowel removed in 2023.
The magnitude of the ordeal, which included narrowly avoiding life-threatening sepsis, involved almost eight months in hospital as doctors transformed his small bowel into taking over from the loss of his large bowel.
The condition can impact one in 3000 people.
“The large bowel is what the average human walks around with and the ulcers target the large bowel,” Ramsey said.
“It was so bad that it was an emergency operation that I had to get the whole large bowel removed.”
Doctors then surgically created a stoma – an opening in his abdomen that would allow bodily waste, such as faeces or urine, to exit the body through the skin.
Ramsey had it for six months.
“The doctors let that rest for six months in readiness to turn my large bowel into my small bowel so I could be gravity-fed,” he said.
“I had to reintroduce every food I’ve ever eaten into my stomach.
“You treat it as a baby would. When a baby is born and they eat and drink they go to the toilet frequently and can’t control it and that’s how it was for me.
“Now I’m at the stage where I have a meal it will sit well with me.”
So is being back playing the game he loves, which is due to the unwavering support of his wife Tahlia, his brother, parents, and the entire Dragons club.
He also says the desire to be a loving father to his two girls (Mia 19-months old and Ella seven months old) was also paramount.
“I’m proud of myself, but it’s taken a lot of other people to get me here too,” Ramsey said.
“Tahlia sat in a hospital bed nearly this whole time.
“My mum, dad, my brother and the magnitude of what the club has done for me, they gave me this opportunity.
“I was 62kg when I walked in to start training again (in January, 2024).
“If you were to look at a 62kg bloke, who is saying he’s going to get back onto a rugby league field, it would be pretty hard to believe.
“Yet there wasn’t one day I didn’t walk into training and they didn't believe in me.
“I’m 80kg now. I was 90kg when I last played in the NRL (2022).
“I lost 28 kgs from my original weight and got back up to 80.
“Everything started getting better when my first daughter Mia was born. She was born on the first of January and I started training two days after she was born.
“That was when everything started feeling better. I started to get better, I started doing things I was told I was not supposed to do.”
Describing himself a guinea pig and crash test dummy as the only rugby league player to have dealt with the condition, Ramsey outlined how he taught his body to eat and recover as a professional athlete.
“I put weight on by eating lots of food. But obviously with my condition, the more I eat, the more I go to the toilet,” the 25-year-old said.
“I’ll only eat a couple of pieces of toast before I train and then after that, I usually load-up.
“I’m constantly eating every couple of hours. Big meals don’t work for me, it has to be small portions. A small plate of lasagne is my favourite, Tahlia makes a nice lasagne.
“I just can’t have too much of it.
“It’s about finding what foods to eat. Bananas slow your bowel down and then if you have too much sugar it will speed it up.
“I can’t eat nuts or anything really high fibre. I love mangoes but I can’t have them.
“I’ve got a pretty tedious diet going on.”
Ramsey is proud of his story after originally being told by doctors that he would never play footy again and that he has become an inspiration for young boys and girls with the condition.
“I had a 10 or 11-year-old kid message me who had the exact same surgery, who had the exact same thing going on,” Ramsey said.
“And I remember sitting there going, ‘I’m in a position to do something really good for him and pave the way, so who better to do it than me?’
“I’ll be at a game of football and there’ll be people that have had the same condition who come up and say that I’m an inspiration and that stuff just keeps you going.
“It’s not the root of the cause, I did a lot for myself, but it’s definitely a big factor.”
Ramsey’s extraordinary story of perseverance continued last week when Dragons NSW Cup coach Willie Talalu handed the evasive fullback the Coaches Award at the club’s presentation night.
Up on stage, Ramsey held back tears as he thanked anyone and everyone that had helped him back to the game he loves.
There is belief too from the Dragons hierarchy, tabling Ramsey an supplementary contract for 2026, which includes a base salary of $85,000 plus match payments, should he progress to the NRL.
It comes amid interest from the English Super League.
Ramsey made no secret of his desire to stay with the Red V, while offering perspective to his courageous comeback.
“I’d love to stay at this club. The idea of returning into the NRL with this club, I feel like its meant to be,‘’ Ramsey said.
“But obviously what that looks like is still up in the air and there’s so many factors that go into a top 30 spot or train and trial contract.
“I’ve played a year of football and I’m a bit of a test dummy.
“But I do feel like I’ve proved this year that I can come back and play if my health is all good.
“I haven’t rushed into a decision about my future because I’m so hyper focused on winning this grand final.
“We built a brand of footy that Willie has us playing and it’s just working for us.
“I’ll start thinking about my future once the grand final is over.
“I do want to keep going, but if this is the last year of footy I ever play, with these boys that I’m playing with, I’ll still be the happiest bloke in the world.
“Just to be able to go and strap football boots on again this season and do it is unreal.”
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Originally published as Dragons star Cody Ramsey's miracle return after surgery, ulcerative colitis battle
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