
Jillion Potter credits her wife Carol for helping her through life-changing trauma.

The American rugby star has overcome a broken neck and then cancer.

Potter (center) is known as one of the toughest tacklers on the women's sevens circuit.

She is now hoping to be selected in the U.S. team for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

After breaking her neck in 2010, Potter feared she would never play rugby again. "I was in a neck brace for a while," she says. "Part of my right side was pretty atrophied, it was one inch smaller, maybe a little bit more, which was interesting."

Potter says the values rugby instilled in her also helped her fight against cancer, having been diagnosed in 2014.

"Chemo was hard. You lose your physical identity with losing your hair, your eye lashes -- and as an athlete my muscles were getting smaller, I was losing weight, I couldn't train."

"I was really in disbelief about how many people supported me around the world. I'm so grateful."

"I've never been to the Olympics -- none of us have -- but we've got a great team behind us ... everyone is doing everything they can to prepare us for the Olympics."