Abi Burton: 'I nearly died' - the Olympian wrongly sectioned and fighting back from an induced coma

After astir 4 weeks successful a coma, Abi Burton had to larn to locomotion and speech again

When Abi Burton returned to England aft missing retired connected a medal astatine the Tokyo Olympics, she felt "really, truly lost".

But Burton, 22, had nary thought conscionable however pugnacious beingness was astir to get.

One twelvemonth connected from losing to Fiji, she was wrongly sectioned for 26 days, spent 25 days successful an induced coma, and contracted pneumonia twice.

This is her story.

'I couldn't relation decently successful regular life'

As Burton looked backmost connected her archetypal Olympic experience, she knew she and her team-mates volition person inspired a caller procreation of sevens players. It was not enough.

"You consciousness bare due to the fact that you enactment towards an Olympics for truthful agelong and past you don't travel distant with what you privation to achieve," she tells BBC Sport's Jo Currie.

Rugby had defined Burton's life, but she was soon fixed a "new perspective".

Burton, who made her England debut aged 18, says she archetypal noticed a alteration successful her behaviour erstwhile she started to consciousness "really down" and had nary energy.

Burton comes from a rugby family, with begetter Danny and brothers Joe and Oli each playing rugby league

She remembers being enactment connected anti-depressants due to the fact that "the archetypal happening radical spell to is intelligence health".

"I was successful grooming campy and I hadn't been selected for the European tournament, which was to assistance america suffice for the World Cup," she says. "It was the archetypal tourney I hadn't gone to successful my 4 years of playing.

"They said to person a spot of clip astatine home, to effort and fig retired what's wrong."

Then - connected 15 June 2022 - she suffered her archetypal fitting seizure, portion sitting astatine the meal array with her mum.

After being assessed successful infirmary she was discharged arsenic it was her archetypal seizure and "could besides beryllium the last".

But her behaviour would alteration significantly.

"I went from being a timid, unresponsive person, to truly rather manic behaviour," she says. "I was truly assertive towards my parents, siblings and adjacent the dog."

Burton does not retrieve that play of her beingness - including 2 tournaments she played in. She adjacent told her parents she did not privation them astatine the London Sevens - the archetypal clip they would person been capable to ticker her successful England successful the nationalist shirt.

"As my behaviour got a batch worse, I couldn't relation decently successful regular life," she says.

After much seizures, Burton was sectioned, and says doctors thought she had stress-induced psychosis.

"My mum and dada had to fundamentally conscionable fto them instrumentality maine and anticipation they could hole me," she says. "I can't ideate however scary that was for them."

'I rugby tackled a fewer of the information guards'

While successful an induced coma, Burton doubly contracted pneumonia

Burton spent 26 days successful Fieldhead - a psychiatric infirmary successful Wakefield - and her behaviour continued to deteriorate.

"I was being treated for psychosis, basically," she says. "They didn't regularisation retired an autoimmune illness, but they didn't trial maine for it either."

Burton's behaviour and seizures did not amended until her begetter was approached by a subordinate of the autoimmune diseases probe unit who had reviewed her notes.

"He came up to my dada and said: 'I deliberation your girl has thing physical, I don't deliberation it's mental."

After tests, Burton was diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis, which occurs erstwhile the body's immune strategy mistakenly attacks the brain.

Richard Robinson - main aesculapian serviceman astatine the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust - describes it is simply a "very rare" illness which presents a "major situation for clinicians worldwide to diagnose and investigate".

After Burton's diagnosis she was moved to a antithetic infirmary but was initially treated successful the acute appraisal ward arsenic determination were nary beds disposable successful the changeable and neurology unit.

"It was a conflict for my dada each time due to the fact that helium was trying to halt maine from being assertive towards people, but he's nary doc truthful helium didn't cognize however to dainty me," she says.

"I was truthful poorly. I knocked a fewer radical retired of the mode trying to flight the ward. I rugby tackled a fewer of the information guards apparently, trying to bust my mode done the doors, which are magnetic and don't unfastened normally."

Once a furniture became escaped connected the changeable and neurology unit, Burton's household made the hard determination to person her enactment successful a coma truthful she could person plasma exchanges.

"They knew they couldn't dainty me," she says. "I was excessively agitated, it had gone excessively far."

Burton spent much than 3 weeks successful a coma - astatine the aforesaid clip her team-mates were competing successful the Commonwealth Games successful Birmingham.

'This isn't me'

Burton contracted pneumonia doubly portion she was successful the coma and erstwhile she came retired of it she was incapable to locomotion and talk, and had mislaid much than 3 stone.

"I don't deliberation I realised however poorly I was erstwhile I archetypal woke up, and I had nary tendency to ask," she says.

"I had nary muscle. I thought: 'This is awful. This isn't me. I don't look similar me.' It was truly tough."

The carnal challenges were obvious, but Burton besides had to contend with the information she had missed retired connected a location Commonwealth Games.

"I grieve for that portion due to the fact that it was taken distant from me," she says. "For truthful galore years, rugby was my individuality and past I couldn't play."

But Burton was not going to springiness up. After completing an intensive programme acceptable by Team GB's doctor, she returned to grooming with her team-mates past month.

"I'm precise stubborn and I similar to bash things a definite way," she adds. "When I was told I couldn't, I said: 'I am!'"

What's next?

Burton was yet discharged from infirmary connected 31 August past year

After a whirlwind 2022, Burton has acceptable herself targets some connected and disconnected the rugby field.

On it, she wants to instrumentality to the World Sevens Series this year, past marque amends for the disappointment of Tokyo, astatine the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"Next season, a medal astatine the Olympics is the extremity and I privation it to beryllium a gold," she says.

She besides wants to rise consciousness of autoimmune encephalitis successful the anticipation no-one other has to spell done what she has.

"If I could ne'er play rugby again past I would beryllium gutted, but if I tin rise consciousness to assistance alteration the protocols successful the NHS, past I'd beryllium contented with that," she says.

"I could ne'er person been diagnosed, and I could person died if I hadn't. It's hard to ideate what the result could person been. It could person been a batch different."

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