After that tournament she felt "really down" and was placed on anti-depressants\ufeff.<\/p>\n
Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n And in 2022 she suffered her first seizure while sitting at the dinner table with her mum.<\/p>\n Burton was later treated for "psychosis" as her \ufeffbehaviour continued to deteriorate.<\/p>\n "I went from being a timid, unresponsive person, to really quite manic behaviour," Burton told the BBC in an extensive interview.<\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> NRL blasted as Fergo exposes insurance 'joke'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie's KO leaves rival's jaw shattered<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Bitter feud reaches boiling point: 'Hate each other'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/AbiLucyBurton\/status\/1631308250644639750?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n "I was really aggressive towards my parents, siblings and even the dog… I can't imagine how scary that was for them."<\/p>\n While in a psychiatric hospital, a member of the autoimmune diseases research staff eventually made a crucial breakthrough.<\/p>\n "He came up to my dad and said: 'I think your daughter has something physical, I don't think it's mental."<\/p>\n NEW PODCAST! Sean Maloney, Morgan Turinui and Andrew Mehrtens unpack all the cracking action and controversy of Super Round in Melbourne<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/between-two-posts-1\/super-round-and-throat-slits\/embed?style=Cover<\/a><\/p>\n Burton was diagnosed with the very rare autoimmune encephalitis and moved to a different hospital.<\/p>\n "I was so poorly. I knocked a few people out of the way trying to escape the ward. I rugby tackled a few of the security guards apparently, trying to bust my way through the doors, which are magnetic and don't open normally."<\/p>\n Eventually, Burton's family made the tough decision to have her put in a coma so she could receive plasma exchanges.<\/p>\n During the 25 day coma, Burton contracted pneumonia twice and lost nearly 20kg.<\/p>\n Her health struggles meant she missed competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games\ufeff in Birmingham.<\/p>\n But after regaining her strength she wants to return to the World Sevens Series this year.<\/p>\n "It could have been a lot different," she says.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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