Bushfire survivor speaks to Ettalong students

Marathon runner and bushfire survivor Turia Pitt spoke to primary students at Ettalong Public School on Monday, November 25.

Ms Pitt, a 23-year-old mining engineer, entered the Racing the Planet 100km ultra marathon on September 2, 2011, held in Western Australia's remote Kimberly region.

This journey, inspired by her passion for running and her determined and competitive spirit, turned into a battle for survival as she was engulfed by flames with nowhere to turn.

Turia suffered catastrophic burns to 65 per cent of her body and defied odds to survive.

Having survived the worst of it, another journey began, working out how to live this new life and conquer its hurdles.

Turia is now back running and is rebuilding her life and conquering fresh challenges.

This includes sharing her experiences in a book, Everything To Live For, written with Libby Harkness.

As much as any motivational talk deals with the speaker's story and what they have been through, it is also about the audience, each and every person sitting on a seat and their own story of struggle, courage, determination and travelling life's ups and downs.

"Just because you're a school kid, it doesn't mean that life hasn't thrown you a few curved balls and left you wondering what, why and how", said parent Ms Rowena Newton.

"Though young in years, so many children are also inspirational survivors.

"The same goes for the parents and teachers who also heard Turia Pitt's inspiration story.

"Turia Pitt was at Ettalong Public School to talk to the kids, but I was also there among a group of parents who also sought a bit of inspiration and encouragement.

"Personally, I wanted to know how she gets through the hard times.

"She explained that when she has a bad day, she tells herself that tomorrow will be a good day.

"It was very simple advice but as I went through last week and seemed to run into quite a few people struggling with something fairly major, I found myself sharing her story and this piece of advice.

"I also used it myself.

"Tomorrow will be better and the funny thing was, it was true.

"Turia also shared the good luck she has experienced as well as the bad.

"She feels lucky that she had her accident in Australia which is the world leader in burns research.

"She was quite clear that if she had been anywhere else in the world, she would have died.

"Above all else, however, Turia stressed that her partner Michael has been her greatest strength and encouragement.

"He also attended the talk; an inspiration himself.

"It was very encouraging to see that life goes on after a personal tragedy and, that like Turia, we can all go on not just to survive but also to thrive and conquer fresh and exciting challenges," Ms Newton said.

Email, 5 Dec 2013

Rowena Newton, Ettalong Public School