Aaron Fleming is an Ironman, New Zealand’s Olympic Games torchbearer, an author, and one of New Zealand’s youngest speakers with one of the most moving tales you will ever hear …
At age 16, at the prime of a promising future in gymnastics, Aaron's right lung collapsed. It happened three times in six months and after extensive surgery to save his life, Aaron was told that he will never again be physically active.
Following the gruelling surgery and the devastating news, Aaron got addicted to his painkillers and suffered from severe depression. One night when his mother found him curled up on a high on the kitchen floor, he decided to turn his life around. He went off his painkillers, finished school and went on to finish a degree in Science and Commerce specialising in Environmental Studies.
In the same year, 2005, on the eve of the New Zealand Ironman, Aaron happened to watch a documentary on the Ironman Competition. Growing up in Taupo, Ironman has always been part of his life, and having been inspired by the documentary Aaron decided that he will be taking part in the New Zealand Ironman the following year.
The next week he started training and could only manage ½ a length in the pool on his first attempt. The running was not much better as he could only run the distance of four lamp posts. He found a friend that could train him and followed his training programme religiously even though he was plagued by injury.
Aaron also started raising funds for CF and has since fundraised over $22,000 – more than four times what he set out to do. The 2006 Ironman was disappointing with the swim, half the bike race and half the run being cancelled due to bad weather – Aaron completed the remaining parts of this and was one of only four athletes to be awarded a full ironman title that year. At the same time he received a special award to represent New Zealand and his chosen Charity, CF, in the USA Ironman in July 2007.
In March 2007 Aaron returned to complete the Taupo Ironman in 15:46 against the odds. He immediately went on to train for the Lake Placid, USA race to be held in July 2007. On Anzac Day, less than 10 weeks before the race, Aaron was hit by a car while training. Apart from whiplash and head injuries, Aaron fractured his elbow and could not train for the following 6 weeks. Despite this, he decided to still go ahead with the race armed only with an ‘impossible is nothing’ attitude.
Two days before the US Ironman, Aaron had his first painful swim. On race day he completed his swim with 30 minutes to spare, the bike ride was more troublesome with 2 punctures within the first 25km. To top this off Aaron could not manage to keep any food or drink down and was totally dehydrated by the time he finished the bike ride – the last person to make the cut off. Aaron completed the run with an emergency blanket to keep him warm and help the dehydration and as he entered the last 400m of the race he was given the NZ Flag to carry over the finish line. He completed the US Ironman with just 12 minutes to spare in 16:47:50.
Aaron's incredible fortitude, determination and outstanding contribution to the community led to him being selected as New Zealand's only Ambassador to carry the Olympic Torch in Canberra for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Aaron is also involved with the lowdown website (www.thelowdown.co.nz) to help support New Zealander’s at risk of depression.
More recently Aaron has written and self-published 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. Aaron hopes his story, written at the age of 24, can motivate and inspire other New Zealander’s to believe in themselves and leave them with renewed respect for what can be achieved when you put your mind to it.
Aaron's story is gripping, emotional and truly inspirational. He can talk about change, overcoming adversity, goal setting and perseverance.
