playing rugby helped her beat leukemia

Rugby helps women tackle their weaknesses and discover their strengths. Playing rugby also helped one young woman in England beat leukemia.

Five years ago, when she was 9 years old,14-year-old Georgia Tayler was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Playing rugby helped her beat leukemia. 

Tayler spent almost two years in a wheelchair while undergoing chemotherapy, according to englandrugby.com. While being treated, she suffered a stroke that affected movement on the right side of her body.

Throughout her treatment, Tayler watched rugby games, but she never thought she would play because of her illness, the website said. When she was in remission, she decided to get fit and began playing rugby.

“As soon as I started playing, I loved it. I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could do it, I wanted to defy stereotypes,” she said in the website’s story.

Tayler, who is from Devon, a county in southwest England, made captain in her first season and then played on the Devon County rugby squad, according to englandrugby.com.

She said rugby has helped her to be more than just fit. It also has helped her with her “confidence and self-esteem.” 

“I didn’t want to be treated differently,” she told the website. “If it wasn’t for the support of the club and my teammates I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

Playing rugby helped her beat leukemia, but Tayler does not consider herself a role model. Instead, she is “inspired by those at the top of the game,” she said in the story. She considers her teammates on the Red Roses her role models. “I look up to them, and they inspire me to want to continue playing.”

See Tayler in action on the rugby field here. The Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off on Aug, 9, 2017 in Ireland. Learn more here.