When she started vomiting and lost the ability to walk, Rosie Galligan had bigger concerns than whether she would play rugby for England again.
She was rushed to hospital, diagnosed with meningitis and for 10 days battled what can be a life-threatening infection alone in a room.
Seven weeks later Galligan was back playing sport only to fall in a line-out, rupture three ligaments, fracture a bone in her leg and shatter her ankle.
Once again her most pressing concern was not adding to the first cap she won off the bench against Ireland in 2019.
Yet she never gave up on that dream and today, more than three years later, the Harlequins second row starts for her country as England launch their Six Nations title defence away to Scotland.
“Helluva story,” said team boss Simon Middleton. “She’s come back in with an attitude of ‘I’ve got a chance, I’m going to take it’. She’s done unbelievably well.”
Unlike the men’s game England are the dominant force in women’s rugby, ranked number one in the world, 18-match winning streak, favourites for a third successive title.
They stuck 99 points on world champions New Zealand in two matches in the autumn and right now only France seem capable of giving them a game.
For Galligan, 23, to have forced her way back into that company after so long out speaks volumes for her.
“A lot of people said I wouldn’t step back on a rugby pitch or play sport because of how severe my ankle was,” she said. “That only makes it sweeter.”
Surgeons used four pins, a scaffold and a plate to rebuild her ankle. The rest was down to her.
“Rosie has an incredible attitude,” said older brother Henry, inspired by his sister to embark on a year’s worth of challenges to raise funds for Meningitis Now.
“She went from feeling a bit unwell to couldn’t move her legs to in an ambulance within the space of 24 hours.
“The doctor said something like had it been a couple of days later, the diagnosis, she could have lost all movement in her legs.
“She experienced intense pain. For most of those 10 days in hospital she could not get to the toilet without assistance.
“It was a really, really scary time but she received amazing care at Maidstone Hospital to come out the other side.”
With the World Cup, postponed from last year, due to finally get underway in New Zealand in October, Middleton plans to rotate his squad through the first three rounds.
It means Galligan is guaranteed nothing beyond today. But don’t worry about her. She’s long since learned to look after herself.
To support Henry Galligan’s Project Tangerine meningitis fundraiser visit justgiving.com/fundraising/henry-meningitis-now
