Inspirational burns survivor Turia Pitt has revealed why she doesn’t answer questions about the fire that changed her life.
Writing on her blog on Thursday, the courageous Australian – who was badly burned while competing in an ultra-marathon in the Kimberley in 2011 – said it’s become ‘sort of boring’.
‘I’ll talk about recovery, I’ll talk about the things I’ve achieved since and all the lessons along the way, but I won’t talk about the actual fire,’ Turia – who is due to welcome her first child in December – wrote.
‘It’s not because talking about it upsets me, it’s just that talking about the fire has become sort of boring for me.
‘Imagine your house got broken into, and six years later, people still wanted to hear about the exact minute you turned the key in your front door and saw all your stuff gone, how you had to fill in police reports, and deal with your insurance company, and file all that paperwork, and install security systems and then buy a new TV,’ Turia went on.
‘You’d be sick of telling that story, right?
‘Now, in my case, I know the story is anything but boring – there’s a cast of crazy characters, danger, a split second decision, a catastrophic event, a heroic rescue, a medical team that work against the clock to save lives, survival against the odds and an epic love story – all set against the startling beauty of the Kimberley’s remote wilderness.
‘But it’s not interesting to me that a fire changed my life (and the lives of some other really cool people).’
Turia went on to say that life-changing events happen to people all the time.
‘I am not unique in that. What’s interesting to me is how we choose to grow and change from these events,’ she wrote.
‘Why would I want to focus on an event that happened in my life when I could focus my energy on how I’m changing my life?’
Earlier this year, on the sixth anniversary of her ordeal, Turia took to Instagram to say she’d never been happier.
‘I’ve never felt compelled to acknowledge the anniversary, but it’s been six years today since I was trapped in a grassfire competing in an ultra marathon,’ she started the post.
‘It’s been bloody tough and there have been some massive lows, but I’ve managed to rebuild my life and I can honestly say, I’ve never been happier.’
‘This post is for anyone going through a rough patch or a s**t time – hang in there, surround yourself with good people and never lose hope for the future.’
Read Turia’s most recent blog post in full here
