By Lori Ewing, Reuters
US rugby player Cass Bargell with her dog before she left home to play in the Women's Rugby World Cup in England. Photo: X / Cass Bargell
American halfback Cass Bargell received a message on one of her candid videos on life as an athlete with an ostomy bag. It came from the mum of a six-year-old boy who had also undergone ileostomy surgery and plays sports.
The message stuck with her.
"It's things like that that make me think, 'Okay, this is definitely worth sharing'," Bargell said in an interview with Reuters.
The 25-year-old will start on the bench on Friday when the US open the Women's Rugby World Cup against favourites England in Sunderland.
But a scroll through Bargell's popular Instagram page shows her story is about more than sports. She walks viewers through how she changes her ostomy bag. In most of her photos, her shirt is pulled up to show the bag attached to her abdomen.
Being open about it on social media has helped her tackle her new reality head on.
"Sharing with people has made it easier for me," she said. "My teammates watch my videos and they ask me questions, and they have no fear, there's no stigma. You can start reading things and go down internet rabbit holes where people say horrible things.
"But when I share about it with my teammates and online, and everyone is so supportive, it also helps me get rid of some of that internal embarrassment or stigma that I even have about it myself."
Bargell went to the emergency room in 2021 with extreme pain and blood in her stool. She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and underwent surgery to remove her colon and create a stoma - an opening in the abdomen that allows waste to pass.
She did a TED Talk at Harvard, where she studied integrative biology, called No Colon, Still Rollin about navigating her life-changing illness and surgery, a story that is unique in that there are few elite athletes who are known to be competing with stomas.
Bargell, who plays with a belt tightly strapped around her waist to compress the bag, knew next to nothing about ostomies before her surgery.
"It was definitely scary. But a lot of people who have ulcerative colitis for years try so hard to not get the surgery, there's built-up fear and stigma.
"I didn't have this instinctive fear of it. When my surgeon said 'You're definitely going to play rugby again,' I just believed her," Bargell said.
Ilona Maher, right, with Olivia Ortiz and Erica Jarrell, left, pose for a selfie at Princes Wharf in Auckland in May. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport
She did not have to look far for helping with social media as teammate Ilona Maher is the most followed rugby player in the world, male or female, with almost nine million followers on Instagram and TikTok combined.
"Ilona has helped me so much, and she also helps all of our teammates," Bargell said. "She was in the bag-change video I made, in the bathroom with me up against the wall, helping me film it and encouraging me, and then she did all the editing.
"Our team plays well when we feel good, and the videos are a way for us to connect and have fun and share about who we are," she added. "I've really found sharing my story important to me and my confidence."
The Eagles face a tough test against England, who have gone 27 games and more than 1000 days without a defeat.
"It sounds very daunting, but we've all recognised what an opportunity," Bargell said. "You don't get to be a part of this kind of game that often, to play in front of that crowd and in a game that matters so much at a time when women's rugby is exploding."
_Reuters
