It’s been a long road to recovery for Turia Pitt, who in 2011 suffered burns to 65 per cent to her body after she got caught in a horrific bush fire. And unfortunately for the 30-year-old, the journey isn’t over yet. Showing her incredible optimism and courageous spirit, Turia shared a photograph to Instagram and a note to her followers detailing her most recent surgery, a second nose reconstruction.
“Just a little shout out for my nose,” she introduced the photo of herself with a patched-up nose. “I’m currently recovering from a surgery where doctors reconstructed this bad boy. I won’t go into too much detail, because the gore factor is high, but basically the doctors took cartilage from my ear and used it to re-shape my nose. Amazing, huh?!”
After suffering burns to her face and body, among many other lengthy procedures, Turia had her nose completely rebuilt in 2015. But that nose surgery ended dramatically when she went into cardiac arrest; despite this Turia went ahead with a second operation.
“I choose to keep having surgeries like this because I believe life is all about continual improvement. And, whatever you do in life, you can’t improve without doing the work. For me ‘doing the work’ means accepting that I’m going to be in a bit of pain, recognising that I’m not going to be able to do the things I enjoy for a while (running/surfing/being active), taking time off from work and other projects, and trusting the process,” she explained.
The new mum, who in her Instagram post is pictured sitting with her son Hakavai, says there is a silver lining to the pain and healing, because now she can breathe properly through her nose.
“But putting in the work always pays off. I can breathe through my nostrils for the first time in 5 years and I’m loving hanging with the best antidote in the world. I’m jotting down some thoughts about how to keep putting in the work, even if you don’t know how it will turn out,” she said.
Turia’s followers can’t get enough of Turia’s updates about her life and her little family, with the below Instagram post that went up four days ago showing a photo of Hakavai playing with a toy rabbit also proving a big hit.
“I feel like Peter Rabbit would object to this treatment,” Turia said simply.
“Omg how beautiful is your little boy,” commented one. Another said, “So cute happy for you all.”
In 2011, Turia survived a horrific brush with death, which saw her suffer burns to 65 per cent of her body, lose several fingers and spend a gruelling five months in hospital after she was trapped in a grassfire during a 100 kilometre ultra-marathon in the Kimberleys.
Despite such adversity, the Aussie has one of the most optimistic attitudes you’ll ever come across. Since her accident, Turia has taken on Ironmans, was awarded the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year in 2014, continues to raise money for burn victims in developing countries, and has welcomed her first child with her partner Michael Hoskins, her son Hakavai.
We can’t wait for the next installment, Turia!
