Saturday, May 5, 2012

True love gets burns victim Turia through hell

  MICHAEL Hoskin looks at his partner, Turia Pitt, and says: "She's beautiful."

Don't call her a survivor because she is doing more than "surviving", he says.

She is living every day, every moment at their home on the NSW south coast.

Trapped by a bushfire during an ultra-marathon in the Kimberley last year, Ms Pitt's burns were so bad she was told by doctors she might not make it.

The 24-year-old's fitness, age and incredible will to live got her through those early days and weeks.

It is her love for Michael Hoskin that continues to carry her through her recovery from shocking burns to 64 per cent of her body.

"She doesn't want people to feel sorry for her. She just wants to get on with her life," he said.

"She's beautiful, you know. She's amazing."

Last week, Turia was forced to relive her ordeal when she gave evidence to the West Australian parliamentary inquiry examining what went wrong in the Kimberley wilderness on September 2 last year - when the Race the Planet's 41 competitors were just hours into what was supposed to be a 100km race over seven days.

The inquiry has heard chilling claims that RTP's organisers in Hong Kong were hopelessly under-prepared for such an emergency.

There were communication blackspots because they did not have the proper satellite phones.

WA's Fire and Emergency Services Authority said it was not notified of the race until it was too late, contradicting RTP's claims that all relevant services were given the "necessary approvals".

The authority said that in the middle of a worse-than-normal bushfire season, it would have had the race moved, or even cancelled - had it known about it.

Competitors were briefed about the dangers of snake bite and crocodiles - but not bushfires. Yet organisers knew there were fires on or near the course.

Course director Carlos Garcia Prieto had been out replacing pink plastic tape marking some of the route after it was burnt.

"The risk of harm to competitors in these circumstances is submitted to be simply overwhelming," solicitor Greg Walsh, acting for Ms Pitt and four other runners, said in his submission.

Turia knew little of this when she got off the plane at the Emma Gorge landing strip at the El Questro station at 7.50am that morning with the other runners.

She had the world at her feet. Born in Tahiti, she grew up in Ulladulla, on the NSW south coast, where she met Michael at school. They hooked up three years ago.
Turia Pitt at the West Australian parliamentary inquiry.

TURIA paid her way at university to qualify as a mining engineer doing odd jobs including modelling.

Michael quit the police before they moved to WA last year, where both worked in the mining industry.

He said his super-fit girlfriend wanted to take part in the RTP ultra-marathon but couldn't afford the $1600 entry fee.

The day before the event, organisers contacted Turia and some others and let them enter free because there were not enough competitors and the race was to be filmed.

The inquiry heard from Mr Pietro that about 11am on race day, he was told there was a fire coming towards them and it would reach the second checkpoint within two hours.

Despite this, no runners were warned or held back at the checkpoint.

Competitors recall Turia being "chirpy, happy and talkative" as she left checkpoint two.

Soon after, about 1.30pm, when she and five others reached the top of Salerno Gorge, they heard what was described as the roar of a road train.
Turia Pitt's burns were so bad she was told by doctors she might not make it.

TO their horror, they realised it was a massive fire with the wind behind it. They couldn't outrun the flames or climb to safety.

A "really scared" Ms Pitt began to cry. She stopped and covered her head with her jacket because there was "nowhere else to go", she told the inquiry.

"It just got hotter and hotter and hotter, and I couldn't stand it any more so I jumped up and tried to run and that's when I got burnt," she said.

Fellow competitors heard her scream, including Kate Sanderson, who was already badly burnt. Ms Sanderson, 35, had huddled in a crevice but was burnt when she stood up to try to put out the flames on her jumper.

It took almost four hours for a helicopter to arrive and the other four runners - Michael Hull, 44, Shaun Van Der Merwe, 30, his father, Martin, 56, and Hal Benson, 37 - have been credited with saving the two lives.

They used their jackets and space blankets to shield them from the sun and pooled their water. But the only painkillers they had were paracetamol.

Turia was flown to a Sydney burns unit, lost her fingers and thumb on her right hand, spent five months in hospital and will need at least 10 more operations.

But Mr Hoskin, 27, who left work to care for her because she cannot dress, wash or feed herself, says she feels lucky because she still has the fingers on her left hand.

"She's got crazy energy," Mr Hoskin said.

"She loves the outdoors, she loves the ocean."

Solicitor Mr Walsh, who is preparing to sue RTP, says Turia Pitt is one of the bravest people he has met.

With huge medical bills, the only support Turia and Kate Sanderson received from RTP was a card, some emails and chocolates.

"The degree of negligence is simply overwhelming," Mr Walsh said.

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