Australia's Finest : Turia Pitt,"..........it may have taken away my body but there's still a piece inside of me which is still that independent woman who's very determined.''

Burn victim Turia Pitt opens up to 60 Minutes about 100km Kimberley Ultramarathon fire

Ashlee Mullany
The Sunday Times
August 24, 2013



A FIRE robbed Turia Pitt of her body but, in just two years, the ultra-marathon burns survivor has painstakingly taught herself to sprint like a top athlete.

With a clear mission to never give up, the 26-year-old has opened up about her determination to rebuild her life after suffering horrific burns during an outback marathon.

INSPIRATION: How love saved Turia Pitt's life

`I think there's a little piece inside of me which the fire didn't get to, if that makes sense,'' Ms Ms Pitt tells 60 Minutes in an interviewing airing tonight.

``So yeah it may have taken away my body but there's still a piece inside of me which is still that independent woman who's very determined.''

In her fight back from the brink of death, she has learnt to walk, run and sprint.

``When I look at photos from before I just think you know, bloody hell I was really good looking and I'm a really determined person so I'll try to get as much of that back as I can,'' she said.

Ms Pitt was among a group of runners who suffered burns when fire swept through a rocky gorge as they competed in the 100km Kimberley Ultramarathon, between Kununurra and El Questro in September 2011.

ACTION: Turia Pitt takes Racing The Planet organisers to court

The blaze left Ms Pitt, from Ulladulla on the NSW south coast, and fellow runner Kate Sanderson severely disfigured, with burns to more than 60 per cent of their bodies.

Runners Michael Hull and Martin Van Der Merwe received less serious injuries in the fire.



Ms Pitt, then a successful mining engineer, spent months in hospital and had to have all her fingers and a thumb removed on her right hand.

After more than 16 surgeries and almost two years wearing a head-to-toe compression suit, she says she can finally remove her face mask.

Ms Pitt was insistent on showing her face on 60 Minutes and hoped to inspire others with her story.

She's now studying for her Master's degree and preparing for the release of her book, Everything to Live For, on September 2.

Her boyfriend Michael Hoskin has remained by her side during her recovery and legal

battle for compensation from event organiser Racing the Planet.

The family is yet to receive any contribution from RTP towards Ms Pitt's medical bills, which have topped $2 million.


Racing the Planet is still advertising marathon events for 2014 in Asia, Africa and South America.

Company founder Mary Gadams did not respond to questions from The Sunday Telegraph.

Latest 19812 ,Turia Pitt and Kate Sanderson update:Damning findings have been made against organisers of the 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon.

Up date from 60 Minutes Australia 19 8 2012
Video # 1

Damning findings have been made against organisers of the 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon which left runners suffering horrific burns after a bushfire swept through the race route. Two runners, Kate Sanderson and Turia Pitt, suffered burns to more than 60 percent.

Turia Pitt and Kate Sanderson so so brave, please help with whatever you can.

Sydney Burns Foundation growing Synthetic Skin

Damning findings against fire race organisers

9 News

Thu Aug 16 2012

Damning findings have been made against organisers of the 2011 Kimberley Ultramarathon which left runners suffering horrific burns after a bushfire swept through the race route.

Two runners, Kate Sanderson and Turia Pitt, suffered burns to more than 60 per cent of their bodies after they were trapped in a gorge by a bushfire as they were running in the 100km race in Western Australia's northernmost region in September.

Michael Hull and Martin Van Der Merwe also received serious burns and required skin grafts.

A parliamentary committee report, released on Thursday, found Hong Kong-based organisers Racing the Planet did not take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of event participants.

Committee chairman Mike Nahan, the member for Riverton, said the company's biggest mistake was not liaising with the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of WA (FESA) when it planned the event.

"The level of communication and consultation with relevant agencies and individuals regarding the event's risk management plan was generally inadequate, both in terms of its timeliness and its approach," Dr Nahan told parliament.

"Specifically, Racing the Planet failed to communicate and consult adequately with the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley - the shire in which the race was held - the WA police force, the Fire and Emergency Services (FESA) and St John's Ambulance service."

Dr Nahan said FESA's Kununurra office would have provided advice that could have led to the route being changed or cancelled.

Ms Sanderson's brother Ian said his demands for an inquiry were fobbed off by WA Health Minister Kim Hames until opposition justice spokeswoman Michelle Roberts intervened and made it happen.

"He was telling me that there were no grounds and no means by which the government could conduct an inquiry," Mr Sanderson told reporters.

"This report proves him utterly wrong."

Dr Hames rejected the claim, but said he "absolutely" believed Racing the Planet should offer financial compensation to the victims, saving them from pursuing it in court.

"They should have known the risks ... if there is anyone to blame in all this it is quite clearly Racing the Planet," he said.

While Premier Colin Barnett earlier this year ruled out state government ex-gratia payments to the victims, Dr Hames said it would be considered.

"There is a case being made by the committee that while it is an international company based in Hong Kong, that it would be very difficult for those who were severely injured to extract money from that company, that the government should consider providing financial support by way of ex-gratia payment," he said.

The WA government had three months to respond to the report and it was up to Attorney-General Michael Mischin if he wanted to act before that deadline, Dr Hames said.

He said one of the most important recommendations of the report was that event organisers be insured in Australia - advice he intended the government to follow.

"Quite clearly, the recommendation of the committee is that the government should require any organisation running an event in Australia to have insurance that is claimable in Australia and sue-able in Australia."

Mr Sanderson said it was "entirely possible" the organisers would make voluntary payments to victims "based on common sense and decency".

Earlier on Thursday, solicitor Greg Walsh, who is acting for Ms Pitt and four others, said a writ against Racing the Planet would be filed in coming days.

"Conservatively, the case would be worth something in excess of $10 million," Mr Walsh told ABC radio.

Ms Pitt spent more than $3 million to have her face, hands and body reconstructed.

Turia Pitt and Kate Sanderson so so brave, please help with whatever you can.

Kate Sanderson and Turia Pitt Facebook donation Page 

Ultra-marathon disaster
Clare Brady 
Today Tonight
February 27, 2012


An ultra-marathon competitor is fighting horrific burns after she was allowed to run straight into a fierce bushfire that almost took her life.

But Kate Sanderson is also fighting for an inquiry to find out who should be held responsible for her terrible injuries.

Sanderson, 35, a super fit and experienced ultra-marathon runner, now has 55 per cent of her body covered in burns.

Part of her left foot has been amputated, and after six months in hospital, and enduring fifteen skin grafts, she has finally been allowed to go home.

As she told the Herald Sun, a 100 kilometre foot race in Western Australia's outback has ruined her life.

Sanderson was competing in one of Racing The Planet’s gruelling marathons - this one through the unforgiving terrain of the Kimberley Region.

The runners knew about the heat, but weren't told what lay ahead - dormant and waiting was a fire that had been smouldering for days.

“It was horrendous - the scariest time of my life. And to hear the girls screaming, and there was nothing we could do,” marathon runner Michael Hull said.

Marathon runners like Hull are made tough, but nothing prepared them for what to do. When six runners, including Sanderson, were in a gorge, winds whipped up and the fire trapped them in a fight for their lives.

“We were trying to find where the roads were. No one had mobile phones because we knew there was no coverage. You know, we had a whistle. There was no shade, so we were getting sunburn on the burns,” Sanderson said.

In excruciating heat they waited for four hours for help to arrive.

“Any burn has a huge impact on all body systems: even a small burn will affect your nerves, your liver, your heart, your lungs, your kidneys. I know if you're burnt on your arm, your nerves are affected on the other side, so if you escalate that to 55 per cent body surface area, that is a huge insult to the area, and takes a significant recovery,” burns expert and plastic surgeon, Dr Fiona Woods said.

Dr Wood's work with burns victims after the Bali bombing is well known.

“When you're burnt you are no longer waterproof - this beautiful casing skin is interrupted, and so you're a leaky sieve - you lose a lot of fluid and circulation, and you can't deliver oxygen to everywhere in the body as well as the skin,” Dr Woods said.

Naturally Sanderson wants answers - answers about why they weren't warned about the fire.

Now the Western Australian Government has agreed ‘in principle’ to hold a Parliamentary Committee into that race.

According to Phil Gleeson from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers “if there is a finding of fault, or a want of responsibility, of either the State Government or the organiser’s part, I think they would deserve compensation.”

He'll now compete in an ultra-marathon in New Zealand next month, and with each step he'll raise money for Sanderson and Turia Pitt (who was also trapped by the flames and has burns to most of her body) to aid their recovery.

Response from Racing the Planet Organizers