Kona-bound Kiwi battler successfully fights back after brain haemorrhage in her teens

This month’s customer of the month is Tamsin from the Bay of Islands. One of our 'Purple Army' of runners at the Tarawera Ultramarathon in February, we had the pleasure of learning her amazing story.

Tamsin says, "My life was flipped upside down fairly dramatically after suffering an AVM brain haemorrhage at age 15.

"I was diagnosed with X3 types of epilepsy not long after my first of two major brain operations. Dealing with epilepsy as a young teenager was extremely hard, and the condition knocked me around for many years.

"There was a time when I was having seizures every 3 days, sometimes 4-7 seizures in a day.

"Around this time in my life, I found myself in a pretty heavy and dark place mentally. It wasn't until a few years later that I rekindled my love and joy of running that things started to improve for me mentally and physically. Surprisingly the more I ran, the fewer seizures I had.. and eventually I found myself seizure-free for long periods of time.

"This gave me the nudge of confidence I needed to try something new and harder. so I signed up for my first-ever 70.3 Triathlon and absolutely fell in love with the sport!

"Six-and-a-half-years later I'm still competing (Ironman Full Distance), and continuing to reach for new limits, recently qualifying for the Kona World Championships in October, 2025. 

"However to keep up with the physically demanding training that Ironman has on my body, I've learnt the importance of appropriate fuelling and recovery strategies. I've done plenty of research and spoken to many specialists to ensure I give my body exactly what it needs to facilitate training and meet the demands of racing. 

"I discovered CurraNZ last year and sent the product details to my Neurologist - I have to be really careful with what supplements I use when on high-dose epilepsy medication. 

"Very promptly my neurologist gave the big green tick of approval and I ordered a 3-month bundle. Once I started taking CurraNZ daily, I noticed a boost in my intra-workout energy fairly quickly and my body's ability to recover faster was noticeable!

"At the time I was nearing the biggest training block leading into Ironman New Zealand and although my level of fatigue was high, my body was able to keep going and bounce back each day with a little more roar. Training became exciting (despite being gruelling) and as race day neared I felt really in tune with my body and its ability to thrive. 

"It's safe to say I'm enjoying the effects of CurraNZ! I've continued to use it throughout my unload weeks post Ironman New Zealand and it will be the most important supplement I use throughout my next (and biggest) training block as I work my way towards Kona World Champs in October."