Turia Pitt received burns to 80 per cent of her body, from a bushfire that ripped through an ultramarathon event.

Woman burnt in ultra marathon takes legal action

Published: 05:53:24 AM, Thu 21 February 2013 UTC

A woman who received burns to 80 per cent of her body in bushfire which swept through an ultra marathon course in Western Australia is taking her case against the organisers to court.

Turia Pitt from New South Wales suffered life threatening burns when trapped by the fire in 2011.

The Western Australian Government offered both women an act of grace payment of $450,000 late last year, after a scathing parliamentary committee report.

Ms Pitt's lawyer Greg Walsh says the organisers "Racing the Planet" would not negotiate an out of court settlement.

She has now lodged a statement of claim with the Supreme Court in Sydney.

"In respect of the damages claim, Turia suffered truly catastrophic injuries," he said.

"She is only a young woman, she is a mining engineer, but she will need ongoing care for the rest of her life, so this is a very significant claim indeed," he said.

"In my experience it's approaching something close to $10 million, a claim like this."

Tags: new south wales, turia pitt, mr pitt, culture_politics, australia, liberal party of australia, statement, women, civil procedure, case, percent, lawyer, burns, supreme court, trial, claim, body, law, life, judge, dollars, bushfire, legal action, court settlement, race organisers, western australian government, grace payment, scathing parliamentary committee, ultramarathon course, woman burnt

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