Turia Pitt Walked Out of a Fire and Back Into Hard Training

The story

In 2011 Turia Pitt was caught in a grass fire during a remote Australian race. Burns covered more than 60 percent of her body. Survival itself was a long medical argument.

She endured operations, pain, and the shock of a changed face and hands in the mirror. Partners, clinicians, and her own temper all had jobs.

What happened next

She returned to endurance events and to work that was not pity. She has been public about the ugly middle, which is the part most people actually need to hear.

A lesson you can use this week

Do not skip the middle when you tell your own story. The middle is where someone else is living right now.

Sources

Turia Pitt, “Everything to Live For” and contemporaneous Australian Broadcasting Corporation coverage of the 2011 Kimberley ultramarathon fire.