hsbc And World Rugby Tell Abi Burton Story
The Remarkables, a video series created by World Rugby in partnership with HSBC that follows the inspirational stories of rugby sevens athletes, has released it latest episodes focusing on Abi Burton’s story.
After a successful three seasons on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, an appearance at the Tokyo Olympics and a move to Wasps XVs, everything was on the up for Abi. Until it all changed.
In May 2022 while competing at London 7s, teammate and best friend Celia Quansah sent a text to Abi’s mum saying ‘something is not right with Burtie’. It came at a time when Abi admits she thought she was depressed and had been put on medication to help with her low mood
Abi’s memory began to go and she began to act vacant (according to her teammates). Weeks later, the seizures started. She began to have episodes which doctors thought were associated with what was presumed to be mental health problem. She is open about how things got so bad that she became very aggressive ‘…I went completely insane’.
Abi was sectioned into a mental health institute near her family home and put on various types of medication including anti-psychotics
hShe was in the institute for 3 weeks, until a doctor reached out to her having seen her case file. He was researching NMDAR Encephalitis: a rare neurologic & autoimmune disease which disrupts normal brain signalling and causes the brain to swell. Due to her mental state, Abi had to be put into a coma for 3 weeks while they performed a plasma exchange as part of her treatment – with the possibility she might not wake up at all…
The latest episode of The Remarkables, follows the story of Abi, speaking to her teammates, family and friends, medical professionals, as well as Abi’s own perspective on her experiences.
The Remarkables, a series launched by HSBC as part of its commitment making rugby sevens more ‘diverse, open and sustainable’, has also covered the stories of Jodie Ounsley, Jordan Conroy, Dennis Ombachi, Ronald Brown, Olivia Apps, Kameli Soejima, and Kirby Sefo.
