A beautiful and surprising story of overcoming and true love

Turia Pitt, a 24-year-old Australian, was a woman who considered herself very happy: she felt beautiful, had a good career and a man who loved her. On September 2, 2011, her life changed radically. She got caught in a fire and nearly burned to death. But Turia not only managed to survive, she also realized that life, always very ephemeral, could be even more beautiful than she thought, despite the tragedy.

Today, we’re going to tell the impressive story of Turia, a woman who was saved by her own desire to survive and the true love that so many hear about and rarely see happen.

In that fateful September, 40 people started to do a 100 km walk, organized by the company RacingThePlanet. Participants managed to complete 1/4 of the distance when the forest started to catch fire, burning everything around. Fires are frequent on the Australian steppes at that time of year, but organizers had not prepared properly and several athletes, including Turia, were caught in the fire. The air grew hotter and hotter, and it was then that the young woman, desperate, began to run through the flames. Unfortunately, 65% of her body ended up with 3rd degree burns.

Before the tragedy, Turia worked as an engineer in a diamond mine and was a model. She was one of the participants in the Miss Australia pageant. She was dating Michael, a boy she had known since high school. “My life felt like a dream, but everything changed in an instant. In the hospital, I wondered why the doctors had saved me,” recalls the young woman.

Turia spent 864 days in hospital. She had to undergo more than 200 operations, including a nose job, as her nose was completely burned during the fire. In addition, she had to have 5 fingers amputated. But little by little the wounds healed. Still, Turia was unable to go outside. She felt that everyone was staring at her all the time. And she decided to put on a mask that accompanied her for 2 years.

During this difficult time, Michael stood by Turia’s side. When the young woman was in the ICU, he bought her a diamond ring and told her parents that if she survived, they would get married. Her father replied, “Very well, boy.” Michael quit his job and started taking care of his beloved at the hospital: he bathed her, fed her and taught her to walk again. Some time later, journalists asked him why he had done all that, and he replied: “My fiancée is still the same beautiful woman I fell in love with. Only her skin has changed, she hasn’t.”

Michael convinced Turia that beauty is more than a perfect body. Beauty is behavior, it’s walking, it’s looking, it’s actions. Michael’s support was critical for Turia to gain confidence and decide to live a full life.

At first, it was difficult for Turia to walk, but three and a half years after the fire, she ran her first half marathon, breaking her own record set before the tragedy. After that, she participated in the Great Wall of China marathon, swam 20 km in Western Australia and cycled over 2,000 km from Sydney to Uluru.

Turia gives interviews, appears on magazine covers, performs at TED conferences, writes books and teaches many people how to achieve victory at her School of Champions. She has also become an ambassador for the charity Interplast and has raised over $1 million for people in need of plastic surgery.

The young woman fulfilled her dream of completing the Ironman (42.2 km running, 3.8 km swimming and 180 km cycling). As the caption on this Facebook photo, Turia wrote: “This is me at the end of Ironman. From the moment the doctors told me I would never run again until now, 5 years have passed. My journey has been difficult, but the desire to accomplish something important shows a lot about yourself, and is a great way to learn about yourself and discover your capabilities. You will always be more than you thought you were capable of.”

“I had to get through terrible times, but I knew Michael would be by my side. Your love and the love of loved ones helped me to achieve it,” said Turia.

In 2015, in the Maldives Islands, Michael Hoskin proposed to Turia and placed that same diamond ring he had bought 4 years earlier on his finger. And in December 2017 the couple had their first child, Hakavai.

Everything Turia has achieved would have been impossible without the support of loved ones. Because love is the most powerful force on Earth and it is only through love that we can overcome obstacles and overcome all challenges.

What did you think of Turia and Michael’s story?