NRL 2025: Cody Ramsey’s miracle return to the field after 896 days sidelined with ulcerative colitis

The one constant during Cody Ramsey’s seven-month hospital stay was his then-pregnant partner Tahlia - and she was front and centre for the most heartwarming and inspiring story in the NRL.

Cody Ramsey holding daughter Ella with partner Tahlia and eldest daughter Mia at Henson Park. Picture: Morgan Taylor Dragons Digital

Walking off the field on Saturday, Cody Ramsey looked for his fiance Tahlia and their two daughters Mia and Ella.

And that’s when he broke.

Throughout a seven-month hospital stay where he underwent multiple surgeries to rectify ulcerative colitis, a chronic bowel disease that threatened his life, a pregnant Tahlia slept next to him on one of those awfully uncomfortable hospital chairs.

While growing their oldest daughter Mia and enduring all the difficulties pregnancy can throw at a mother, she selflessly stayed by his side during the battle.

And so when Ramsey saw her on the sidelines at Henson Park on Saturday, after playing 30 minutes of St George Illawarra’s NSW Cup trial match in a long-awaited return to the field, he ran to her.

“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 told this masthead on Sunday night.

“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.

“We got engaged in the off-season.

“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.”

It’s the most heartwarming and inspiring story in the NRL.

Ramsay was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic bowel disease, in late 2022.

Until Saturday, his 25th birthday, it had been 896 days since he played a game of rugby league.

He was told by doctors he would never play again, but he’s not one to listen to negativity.

His return to the field was an emotional moment, watched on by his family, Dragons staff and players, and former teammate Zac Lomax.

Although he’s been medically cleared to play, there is still a fight ahead of him.

“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,” he says.

Ramsey was around 90kgs when he last played in the NRL back in 2022, and currently he’s around 80kgs, about a kilogram off the weight he was when he debuted for the Dragons back in 2020.

Putting on weight is a struggle with a smaller bowel.

The more he eats and drinks, the more he needs to use the toilet and the more it disrupts his normal life.

But his spirit is undeterred. He’s determined to play NRL again, saying all he needs to do now is play well in NSW Cup to earn a chance.

Cody Ramsey goes for a run in his return match. Picture: Joel Beaton Dragons Digital

“Over the past year I’ve been able to reintroduce almost every food I’ve ever eaten, which is good. The more I eat, the more my man-made bowel expands and adapts and can hold more food and more liquid. It’s just working around that and it’s getting better,” he said.

“It’s pretty crazy.

“If I was living a regular life I would not be eating nearly as much as what I eat now, it would probably be a lot easier, but I don’t really want to live a regular life right now.

“I’ll go until I can’t, and there’s nothing really mentally holding me back from doing what I want to do.”

The kid from Molong is a fighter.

“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 shit done to be honest.”

Originally published as NRL 2025: Cody Ramsey’s miracle return to the field after 896 days sidelined with ulcerative colitis