Deanna blessed with winning life's challenges DIAGNOSED with HIV and given just five years to live by doctors at the age of just 24, Deanna Blegg said her world came crashing down. "I felt like my life had come to a complete standstill," she said. I was told I had five years to live and I believed it. I don't think I was strong enough at the time to challenge it. After the diagnosis, Ms Blegg said life was more about surviving than it was about living. Her body had started to shut down and she was getting sick all the time, as well as battling a bout of depression. But she refused to give in - changing her diet and working out in a determined bid to turn her life around. Nineteen years later, she is still fighting fit - competing in adventure races all over the country. "My first one was the Anaconda adventure race - I came in seventh the first year I did it and then won it every year since," Ms Blegg said. It's like I've finally found my love and my passion. Now I love life, I appreciate life. The self-confessed adventure junkie is now planning to compete in the Spartan Race in Sydney this weekend after she was the first female to cross the line in the Melbourne race earlier this month. "I'd love to be able to follow the Spartan Race all over Australia to compete," she said. They are very much like life - full of obsatcles and to succeed you've got to find a way through it. Registrations for the Sydney race close today at 5pm