TRUE FIGHTING SPIRIT
Turia continues to inspire with her achievements Turia Pitt
In 2011 Turia Pitt’s world changed forever when she was trapped in a grass fire while competing in a 100km ultramarathon. The 24-year-old mining engineer was choppered to hospital from the remote spot, barely clinging to life and with severe burns to 65 per cent of her body.
Woman’s Day first met Turia – who has undergone 200 operations in the years since her accident – when she finally removed the compression mask she’d worn for two years in order to smooth her facial scarring.
“It was good to let the world see the real me,” she told us of finally being photographed without the mask, an occasion she dubbed as “refreshing”.
By her side on that day – and in the countless interviews we’ve conducted with Turia since – was her fiance Michael Hoskin. Together they’ve shared many significant milestones.
In 2014, Turia penned a diary exclusively for our readers as the duo climbed The Great Wall of China to raise funds for Interplast, which provides reconstructive surgery for people in developing countries.
And we were there a year later when Turia had her final surgery for a new nose.
In July 2015 the pair revealed details of Michael’s romantic proposal in the Maldives. While the wedding date is yet to be set, they have their hands full. Turia and Michael welcomed son Hakavai in December 2017.
To date, Turia, 31, has raised more than $1 million for Interplast and counting, has taken part in multiple hikes and ironman comps and is a renowned speaker, inspiring people all over the globe.