Clothed in a compression burns suit, the young Ulladulla woman who had contemplated death amid a wall of flames spoke bravely of the day her life nearly ended in a Kimberley grass fire.
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What Turia Pitt said prompted tears and a standing ovation from the 300 strong audience at the Shoalhaven Women’s Conference on Thursday.
The admiration was as much for what she didn’t say - there was no self-pity or bitterness or blame about the incident that changed the course of her young life so dramatically.
There was only hope, and a clear determination to “never, never give up”.
“I stared death in the eye and came out on top,” said Turia, who had flown in the day before from a clinic in France where she has been receiving treatment for her burns.
“I should be dead. I should be six feet under,” she told the conference.
“Getting angry and resenting other people doesn’t make me any better, it doesn’t make me heal any quicker, it doesn’t make me run any faster or swim any further.
“You can get upset for a little while but you can’t carry hurt around with you every day.
“Life can deal you some rough cards at times but it’s how you play with them that’s important.”
