How A Life Threatening Illness Gave This Personal Training Student The Strength To Pursue Her Dream Career

“I never thought I would be where I am at now” says Australian Institute of Fitness graduate and now Personal Trainer, Danielle Aplin. After finding out she was suffering from an auto-immune disorder known as Crohns disease, Danielle thought she would be stuck living in hospital beds and battling debilitating side effects her whole life.

Danielle says that regaining her strength after battling the illness was one of the hardest things she has ever had to do. “But I learned that I could do anything I put my mind to though, and that was when I decided to start at AIF and become a Personal Trainer.”

Crohns disease is an autoimmune disorder, meaning the immune system mistakenly identifies healthy bacteria in the digestive tract as a foreign presence and the body essentially attacks itself. Not surprisingly Danielle’s road to getting back in the gym and becoming a Personal Trainer was not an easy one.

“Curled up in my hospital bed, I thought my healthy lifestyle was over” admits Danielle who could barely manage standing when she was first released from hospital. However, Danielle became determined to regain her strength and lifestyle, and started walking up and down her street for a few minutes each day to start the gruelling journey to recovery.

After 10 weeks Danielle went back to the gym, starting with 15 minute sessions and gradually pushing herself back into a workout routine.

Danielle’s own perseverance inspired her to tackle another lifelong dream, turning her passion for fitness into a career. In 2014 Danielle enrolled to study our Master Trainer Program™ and hasn’t looked back.

“AIF taught me a lot; including how the body and its systems work.” But most valuable, Danielle says, was the realisation that she could do anything she set her mind to.

Danielle is now a Personal Trainer with Anytime Fitness and runs her own Mobile PT business.

Image credit: @dani_elle_00 on Instagram

• Bio

AIF

The Australian Institute of Fitness

The Australian Institute of Fitness (AIF) is the largest and longest established fitness training organisation in Australia, with dynamic training methods and expert course coaches nationwide - spanning fitness, massage and nutrition. The AIF qualifies more fitness professionals than any other provider in Australia, as well as offering a broad range of continuing education courses (CEC), upskilling resources and partnership programs for existing industry.