I was born in Auckland on the 24th of October 1993, I was 1 month over due and my birth had to be induced and then it just got worse from there. My cord ruptured, they had to get me out fast in doing so they damaged my shoulder which ended up as erbs palsy, I needed a blood transfusion, I took my first breath after 7 minutes then they rushed me up to neo natal intensive care unit, where they put me on oxygen and kept me in for observation and that was the start of my life .
I live with my mum and dad in Papatoetoe. I’m the youngest of 4 girls and have a nephew that is quite annoying, he’s more like a little brother. We are a fruit salad made up of Samoan, Maori, Tongan, Chinese with a hint of Peruvian and Irish.
When I’m just chilln out I like to listen to music, sleep, eat, lax around in my pj’s, hang with my family, go to the beach with my friends etc etc.
Currently I attend Aggs and this is my last year there. Before this I attended Papatoetoe Central and Papatoetoe Intermediate.
Just before I turned 10 I joined Papatoetoe Swim Club. I don’t swim competitively now but I still go down and train with Brian and his group when I’m cross training. At the same time I also joined Muriwai Surf Life Saving Club where I patrol and compete. I represent Samoa in flat water sprint kayaking.
My most memorable sporting achievments were when I won my first nationals for Surf Life saving in the Diamond, doing the Ocean Series and taking it out for my age group, being selected by the Inernational Canoe Federation to attend their Identification Talent Camp in Poland. Getting a development award from the Samoan Sports Awards and getting Raisey’s to sponsor me has also been right up there too.
My kayak coach and my team leader have been the main reasons that I’ve had the oppurtunities to travel to Australia and through out Europe.
Besides the start of my life everything has turned out pretty much gravy. Looking forward to the rest of my life.
Yeah thats it cya JJ
