Aaron was born in Blenheim in 1983 and raised in Taupo.  He has always been an active person and used to represent Waikato in gymnastics and had aspirations of wearing the silver fern on his chest.

Then in December 1999, on the same day his grandfather died, Aaron’s life changed forever when his right lung spontaneously collapsed.  By the end of January his lung had collapsed a further two times and each time he was admitted into hospital.

In January 2000 he underwent major lung surgery in Waikato Hospital as a 16 year old which had a 99% success rate.  It was painful surgery, but it failed.  By June 2000 he found himself back in hospital again requiring further surgery, only this time it was much more serious.  As a result Aaron was told by his surgeon that he would never be able to physically over-exert himself ever again. 

His health quickly deteriorated, and he developed an addiction to pain killers, which lead to chronic depression.  He hit rock bottom and considered opting out of life! 
Aaron spent the following four years getting his life back on track, and moved to Wellington to start a new life and begin university. 

Then after having four years of post-surgery pain and not being able to do too much with his life, Aaron was finally able to live life relatively pain free and decided he wanted to do something with his life, setting himself the daunting goal of going from zero to being able to complete the 2006 New Zealand Ironman 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run. 

Aaron did this for three reasons.  Firstly he wanted to prove his surgeon wrong, he wanted to join an elite group of athletes who had finished an Ironman event, but ultimately he wanted to make a difference to the lives of other young New Zealander’s with lung problems.  That is young New Zealander’s with cystic fibrosis.
He started from scratch, he could not swim, bike or run.  But he was determined to follow through and committed himself to the event.  He believed in himself, all the while working hard to create awareness for the cause.  The media also picked up on Aaron’s story which was the catalyst for the public profile that he has today.

Ironman has a 17 hour time limit but Aaron was confident he could complete the course before the midnight cut-off. He had prepared for everything, but unfortunately there was one thing he could not control. The weather! A huge storm swept through the Taupo course on race day forcing the cancellation of over half the event. But Aaron couldn't leave his goal unfinished.

Because of his fundraising efforts Aaron was surprised with the opportunity to represent New Zealand at Ironman USA in July 2007, so he set himself the insurmountable challenge of completing two Ironman races within 20 weeks. Ironman New Zealand and Ironman USA in Lake Placid New York - once again going the distance for CF kids in NZ.

In March 2007 Aaron completed Ironman New Zealand in 15hrs 45mins. At last he realised his dream. Then while in training for Ironman USA, disaster struck when Aaron was involved in a cycling accident while training in Wellington. He was knocked unconscious, fractured his elbow and suffered severe whiplash. With just three months remaining until Ironman USA Aaron was unable to train putting his performance in jeopardy. But he was determined to travel to USA to complete the race - no matter what! He was the only New Zealander in the field and it was a dream come true for Aaron to be representing his country. But his race did not go to plan with Aaron suffering from mechanical failure on the bike and nutritional problems which should have seen him pulled off the course. He had to dig the deepest he has ever had to dig in his life to keep his promise to the CF people in New Zealand to try finish the race.

Dizzy, nauseous and weak, Aaron kept putting one foot in front of the other, and kept telling himself that he could do it! It was a gutsy effort, and with just twelve minutes spare he crossed the finish line to complete the longest day in his life and was immediately loaded into a waiting ambulance and rushed to hospital to be treated for severe dehydration.

Aaron's incredible fortitude, determination and outstanding contribution to the community led to him being selected as New Zealand's Ambassador to carry the Olympic Torch in Canberra for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is signed one of New Zealand's youngest professional speakers, and is in high demand inspiring and motivating throughout the country, and is also the author of the book Purpose, his awe-inspiring story of how a young New Zealand 'everyday' male, overcame adversity to achieve the impossible through sheer determination and gutsy self-belief. One thing is for certain that Aaron is a public identity to watch in the future. Watch this space.