Steve Renouf and family rocked by awful development around rugby league prodigy niece Aamira
The Brisbane Broncos legend and his family are doing it tough.
Aamira Renouf has been touted as one of the country's brightest young talents in women's rugby league. But the niece of Brisbane Broncos legend Steve Renouf and cousin of Selwyn Cobbo is doing it tough.
The 16-year-old Aamira, who attends Caloundra State High School, is a gun footy player following in the footsteps of her famous family members. She's been part of NRLW academy teams and represented Queensland in age OzTag, volleyball and rugby sevens teams.
But her career - and life - is under serious threat. Aamira's family has opened about her battle with Limbic Encephalitis - a rare neurological condition that causes memory impairment, confusion, seizures and depression.
Aamira's mum Natalie Sandow revealed to the Courier Mail how episodes of confusion first alerted them something wasn't right. “I remember thinking it was odd when she kept nagging and asking me questions that I knew she knew the answers too,” Natalie Sandow said.
“When I was her age I remember getting bad migraines so I thought she might’ve been going through something similar, but then at one stage we were in Rebel Sport buying boots and Aamira couldn’t figure out what was happening...how we’d gotten to the shops and so on.”
Natalie said Aamira had forgotten her grandfather's death a short time after he passed away, and brain scans revealed she had inflammation and a diagnosis of Limbic Encephalitis soon followed. “When I asked the neurologist what having this disease meant for Aamira’s life expectancy, she wouldn’t answer me and she instead said ‘let’s focus on the treatments’ and told me not to Google it which I haven’t to this day,” Natalie said.
Aamira Renouf's family is Queensland rugby league royalty
Aamira's mother said her daughter struggled with the fact she initially wasn't allowed to play sport and couldn't understand why, but has since been given the all-clear to get back on the field. The biggest issue is her inability to retain new information, and it's believed Aamira's life expectancy has been greatly impacted.
She suffers constant seizures, sometimes affecting her whole body. “She can have a seizure on the field in the middle of a game,” Natalie said. “When that happens she knows to remove herself and always puts her health first as she usually walks off the field, sits down and has some water to compose herself."
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Aamira was chosen to represented the Sunshine Coast regional schoolgirl rugby sevens team in May at the state champions. The 16-year-old had two seizures in the space of 11 hours and was forced to sit out the opening day of the carnival, but still managed to get selected as a shadow player for the Queensland under-16s team.
Aamira's father Donald Malone played in the Queensland Cup for the Sunshine Coast Falcons, and also played two games for the North Queensland Cowboys in 2009. Her uncle Steve Renouf is an all-time great for the Broncos having played 183 games for the club, as well as 13 State of Origin games for Queensland and 11 Test matches for Australia.
