Every single one of the 251 players that have so far earned caps for Scotland women since 1993 have inspiring stories to tell and cap number 151 Suzy Rook is one of them.
In recent years she had a large mass on her neck which she discovered during one of her pregnancies.
It was checked and scanned on various occasions from 2019 onwards and, at first, it was thought there was no major issue or anything untoward.
“As the mass got bigger and bigger as time went on, it was then decided that it had to be removed from my neck and throat area last September,” Suzy, a prop who earned 13 caps for her country after a debut versus Spain in 2011, explained.
This was a massive operation leaving a seven-inch scar across my throat. I had difficulty breathing and was feeling like I was choking and hoarse all the time.
Unfortunately, six weeks after the surgery I found that a lump that had been part of the whole thing was cancerous. What a shock that was, let me let you that and the recovery was grim. I had trouble with my own mental health at times while I also lost a dear friend to suicide.
“But, as they say, ‘you can’t keep a good woman down’ and I tried to turn my tough times into something more positive.
“As a result, I created a group on Facebook group called Swim Queens and since then I’ve been doing cold water therapy and swimming pretty much every day in cold water.
“I do it in the lochs and the sea in Dumfries and Galloway. It’s amazing for mental health, for your resilience and it’s just absolutely amazing for other women to support other women in a way that’s positive.
“There’s no body shaming in swimming and what we do, much like in rugby. There is a position and a space for everybody when it comes to cold water therapy. It’s very, very like rugby with the collective support that women give each other.
“We have talks about everything no matter what shape or size you are, your background, your sexuality and your thoughts, anything goes.
And, like rugby, it’s so important that women are able to support other women and get involved in active things for mental health that don’t cost a lot of money.”
Rook, who still plays rugby for Stewartry, is currently undertaking a daily cold water dook or swim every day.
That started in November and runs until June when she will then head to Svalbard – a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, located roughly halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole – to complete a special arctic swim.
“I can’t wait to take that step and go to the Arctic,” Suzy, who is raising vital funds for the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust and the Back Onside mental health charity, explained.
“Being able to do that will be absolutely amazing, I’m so excited.
“And I’m also so excited because I just think women’s sport is in an amazing place just now.
“Like we are literally just bashing down the barriers and it just feels amazing that we’ve got to a point that females aren’t just seen as a ‘really good rugby player’, they are seen as athletes now and respected for that.
“I mean the crowds now are just unreal and I can’t wait to be at Murrayfield on Saturday.
“I remember one of my first Six Nations caps was at Twickenham straight after the men’s game, basically the men’s game ended and everyone left.
“There was I think maybe about 500 people left in Twickenham, I’ve got pictures and it’s basically empty so it’s just amazing to see how much the game has grown.
“The rugby family is just the best, so special.
“After my cancer diagnosis I had so much support from old team mates, Scotland players, ex-England players like Rocky Clark and loads of others.
“And the current Scotland squad are such great role models.
I’ve got a little girl who is very sporty and quite muscular and instead of her ever feeling any kind of body shame, feeling different or feeling like she shouldn’t look the way she does, she actually is like ‘yeah, I’m going to play rugby, you know my mum played for Scotland and I love the current team’. That is something special.”
So, how did Suzy get into rugby back in the day?
“Initially, I was playing Gaelic football and then I found rugby by accident when I was at university,” she recounts.
“Somebody dared me to go and play, I was into sprinting and things like that, but I decided to give rugby a good shot when I was at Dundee University.
“I was spotted and selected to train with the Scotland development squad where Donna Kennedy was involved with coaching.
“It was a really exciting time and a lot of change was going on back then. I got capped for the senior side in 2011, but had been involved from around 2009/10 in that development squad and it had been a quick rise to rugby after only started playing in 2006/07.
“I got 13 Scotland caps and I also played against South Africa for the Nomads.
“I loved playing for Scotland, it is one of the proudest achievements of my life.
“Rugby helped me with containment in difficult times, I know now that it was ADHD I was managing which in the early days was often slightly misunderstood.
“The woman today are celebrated and social media and posting on there is no longer discouraged it’s actually a part of being an athlete and they can help lots of others out there who might be going through similar things to them.”
- Over 25,000 tickets have been sold for Scotland-England, join in the fun by getting tickets here – before the senior game at 1.30pm at Murrayfield the under-21 sides from both countries are meeting at Hive Stadium at 11am.
Suzy Rook is pictured playing rugby and swimming
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