When the now 57-year-old returned to Corsica in France, where she working as a tour guide at the time, she didn't give her new butterfly tattoo much thought.
That was until roughly eight weeks later when Lyn remembers developing major flu-like symptoms:
'I had a yellow face, I couldn't eat and I needed to sleep nearly all the time,' she explained.
'I knew I needed to go to the doctor, and when they told me my temperature was extremely high, I returned home where specialists ran lots of tests to see whether I had malaria.'
Ten days later, however, Lyn's doctors still had no prognosis.
'I was sleeping for 22 hours a day, so my mother said I had to go back to the hospital,' she remembered.
'The specialist said that they had to test me for everything under the sun - including HIV. She told me she'd be back with my results the next day.'
That next day, in October 1992, sticks in Lyn's mind all too clearly.
'I remember her body language and knowing it was going to be bad,' Lyn recalled.
'When she told me I had HIV and that I had six months to live, so I needed to get my bucket list out, I heard nothing except the fact that I had six months left.
'I was in shock. I had no idea why.'
Eventually, after doctors ran tests on the three ex boyfriends Lyn had had since she was 20, one of the 57-year-old's specialists pinpointed that her HIV had come from the tattoo.
'I remember being shocked,' she said. 'I had no idea that was possible.'
Lyn later boarded a plane to see friends and family in Australia, with the intentions of saying goodbye.
It was around this point that she met her ex partner on an airplane and fell in love.
'I wanted to live each day like it was my last,' she explained. 'We moved to Rotorua, enjoyed a stress-free life - and after a year when I was still here, I relaxed a little.'
Lyn has now has two children, Francois and Amira, who are both totally healthy.
Since she was diagnosed, the mother of two has worked tirelessly to educate people around HIV and AIDS - a subject many don't know too much about.
'I've started the fashion event StyleAid to raise money for women and children with HIV,' she explained.
'Anyone can get HIV and AIDS and it's important that precautions are taken. I think the testing should be compulsory, like smear tests.'
Lyn has also set up - which sees bands perform in Auckland, alongside a free testing place for all to use.
'The stigma is really bad, but there are so many women with HIV,' she said.
To this day, Lyn takes tablets to stay healthy and keep her HIV at bay.
'I have no regrets, it is what it is,' she said. 'Plus, I think about the good things. Had I not been diagnosed, I wouldn't have done all these things with my life. I share my story with schools and I have an opportunity to spread the word.
'Had this not all happened, my life probably wouldn't have gone this way. It's taught me to grab life as it comes and live in the now rather than ten years down the track.
'I don't have a fear of death like I used to. I've made peace with myself and I think it's made me even more positive as a person. It's part of who I am.'
Source: Daily Mail
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