It would be easy to be full of regrets if you had your dreams snatched away in an instant like Turia Pitt, but this defiant woman has no time for what ifs and instead embraces her life, full to the brim of wonderful new dreams.
“To reinvent yourself – that’s where the magic is,” she says with pride.
“The more we put into life, the more we get out of it. You have to keep showing up. Consistency is the key. The journey to success won’t always look good, and won’t always feel good.”
Against all odds, 32-year-old Turia is expecting her second child with fiance Michael Hoskin. She announced the exciting news to the millions of Aussies who have shared her amazing journey with a beautiful video on Instagram.
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Turia and her son Hakavai.
(Image: @turiapitt/ Instagram)“When Michael and I want to share big news, I insist on creating a Beyonce-inspired video montage,” says Turia, beaming from ear-to-ear as she kisses and cuddles Michael and plays with 20-month-old son Hakavai in the clip.
Earlier this year, she shared her joy at being a mum after overcoming the terrible injuries received when she was almost killed in a bushfire while competing in a 100km ultra-marathon in 2011, which left her with burns to 65 per cent of her body.
“You know that feeling of falling in love? It’s kind of like you’re high (thank you dopamine and oxytocin). Having a baby is like having this feeling on tap. It’s like the honeymoon phase that never ends.”
WATCH: Meet the Hoskins! Turia Pitt, Michael Hoskin and Hakavai are too adorable. Story continues below…
Positive challenges
Turia, who lost seven fingers in the fire, endured 200 operations and spent two years in recovery, readily admits that things haven’t been easy, but says she always chooses to look at her life experience in a positive way.
And despite her unbearably painful recovery, and the seemingly impossible challenges she’s had to overcome just to survive, she admits that just like most mums, she finds child birth daunting.
“With any big change approaching, there’s a certain element of uncertainty,” she says. “And when you know that you’re going to experience pain that can be pretty scary. I write a list of all the bad things that could happen – it’s going to hurt, I don’t know if I can do it, what if I can’t handle the pain.
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The excited mum-to-be showing off her bump!
(Image: @turiapitt/ Instagram)“Then I write a list of all the good things – how grateful I am to still be here, to have a beautiful partner like Michael… that one day I’ll be able to watch the baby surfing, diving and hanging with Michael. I could look at it in a negative way, or an empowering way. If I look at it in the empowering way, I feel better – so that’s the way I choose.”
When Turia released her third book, Good Selfie, earlier this year, she revealed what she wanted for Hakavai, who she named in honour of her mum Celestine’s Tahitian heritage. Hakavai means “dance of the water” in Tahitian.
“As a parent you want your kids to be happy,” she told Mamamia.
“But I know it’s not realistic that Hakavai is going to be happy all of the time, because of course he’s not going to always get picked for the sports team or maybe he’ll have his heart broken by a girl – all of these are very normal challenges we face.
“I really want to encourage him to grow self-belief and get that sense that if he puts his mind to something, he can make anything happen, and that was my hope behind the book.”
Happy family: Hakavai, Turia and Michael can’t wait for the new arrival.
(Image: @turiapitt/ Instagram)Building confidence
She says as much as she wants her kids to find happiness, she feels it’s her obligation to teach them resilience.
“I realised I wanted to teach him [Hakavai] more about resilience and having self-belief and knowing that if he puts the work and effort in, he can achieve anything,” she explained in a podcast after Hakavai was born in December 2017.
“I’m going to try and support him as best as I can and equip him with tools and strategies he can use. Build up his confidence and self-belief and hopefully he can take it from there.”
Hakavai and the brother or sister Turia and Michael will welcome next year need look no further than their parents for inspiration.
Since that terrible day in 2011, Turia has quite simply captured the hearts and minds of Australia with her determination – and brilliant sense of humour – as she not only recovered but embraced challenge after challenge, including competing in an ironman race five years after doctors told her she would never run again.
She says you just need to take one step at a time and never give up, no matter what the challenge.
“What’s the one small thing you are doing that day to move towards your goals? It doesn’t sound very sexy and it’s not rocket science.”
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Turia wants to teach her kids resilience.
(Image: @turiapitt/ Instagram)
