Everything to Live For: The Inspirational Story of Turia Pitt (23 page)

‘It’s not unreasonable to assume that it could have used its event facilitation processes to introduce RtP to the relevant government agencies who could have provided comment and assistance in relation to the company’s risk management planning,’ the committee reported.
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The committee also found that Tourism WA had signed a sponsorship contract without knowing if RtP had the appropriate insurances; Tourism WA confirmed it had not received, assessed or requested the required insurance documents. Tourism WA subsequently requested the insurance certificates for its files from RtP on 9 December 2011, more than three months after the race; it received them on 15 February 2012, more than five months after the race. The insurance certificates were not accompanied by their policies and schedules. Without that documentation the committee had difficulty in determining whether appropriate insurance cover was in place for the injured competitors.
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Importantly, clause 15 of the sponsorship agreement stated:

The Event Holder must provide Tourism WA with information relating to any matter relating to the Agreement within five days of receiving a written request . . . all such information must be full, true and accurate in all aspects to the best of the Event Holder’s knowledge at that time.
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The committee was not supplied with any documentary evidence that RtP complied with any of the obligations imposed by the sponsorship agreement. However, the committee received advice that the documents presented relating to public liability insurance were ‘. . . of no apparent value to Tourism WA or to an injured participant’.
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In respect of the other documents the committee was advised:

The worker’s compensation ‘Notice of Insurance’ document appears to be valueless. It is not an insurance contract. The nature of cover is unknown. The Hong Kong insurer presumably is not an Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) approved insurer and not an approved insurer for the purposes of Workers’ Compensation and Injury management Act 1981 (WA). Whether employees of RacingthePlanet are covered for workers’ compensation under Hong Kong law if injured in Western Australia is unknown.
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Among RtP’s documents was a flyer for a medical emergency insurance company – this was of little use to Tourism WA or an injured participant. The committee did not receive any evidence that there was any personal accident insurance cover for volunteers.
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Criticisms of other government agencies largely concerned the lines of communication between various parties. While the committee found the onus was on RtP to make contact with relevant agencies (e.g. FESA, DOH, Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley, DEC), after initial direct contact by RtP or when a relevant agency had heard about the event from a third party, not enough effort was put into follow-up investigation of the event and the progress of its organisation.
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If FESA, in particular, had been brought into the planning process, the emergency response on the day may have been markedly different; in fact, in the committee’s view it may not have been needed as FESA asserted it would have advised RtP to re-route or cancel the race.
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The KVC advised FESA’s district fire manager about the event three days prior and was told that RtP would be calling for advice on fire. RacingthePlanet was advised by both the KVC and the DEC to contact FESA in Kununurra, and given contact details. The district fire manager was waiting for RtP to make contact but no contact was made. The committee found that when RtP did not make contact, it would have been ‘reasonable and prudent’ for FESA to contact RtP.
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The committee expressed surprise at the way the FESA call centre, Comcen, handled Dr Brandee Waite’s initial call from checkpoint two. Dr Waite advised there were people with burns and they needed help with evacuation; at the end of the call she was asked to hang up and call 000 again and request an ambulance service. The committee was of the view that Dr Waite should have been kept on the line while FESA/Comcen organised contact with other relevant emergency services.
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The committee found serious failures in sat-phone communications on 2 September;
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sixty-three emergency phone calls were logged between RtP officials on their satellite phones and various agencies (e.g. FESA, St John’s Ambulance, 000) between 2 pm and 8 pm; many of them were recorded as failed calls when the line dropped out before an operator could be reached or during the initial seconds of the call.
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The committee made fifteen recommendations.
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Most were ways various authorities could improve handling of future events, e.g. determining minimum safety standards and improving communications.

Among its recommendations were:

•   That Tourism WA revises its sponsorship agreements to ensure that risk management plans are submitted for approval with all relevant agencies and local and State authorities no later than two months prior to a sponsored event, and that milestone payments are linked strictly to this deadline;

•   In regard to its due diligence processes for sponsorship agreements, Tourism WA requires event organisers to complete disclosure questionnaires; if an organiser is found at any time not to have complied, or to have withheld material information, penalties should extend to nullifying the contract;

•   That Eventscorp ensures that organisers of events it sponsors are directed to all the appropriate authorities and stakeholders;

•   All relevant insurance policies and schedules are lodged with Tourism WA by the time a sponsorship agreement is signed and organisers adhere to a clause allowing any claims against them be enforceable in Western Australia or the sponsorship will be withdrawn;

•   FESA, WA Police and St John’s Ambulance establish a uniform system for handling multiple agency emergency responses that do not involve callers having to make multiple calls to 000;

•   That the Western Australian Attorney General gives urgent consideration to an ex-gratia payment to Turia Pitt and Kate Sanderson.

While denying responsibility, the Western Australian Government did make an Act of Grace payment of $450,000 each to Turia and Kate in November 2012. The payment was in recognition of the financial stress of their surgical procedures and medical needs. Deputy Premier, Dr Kim Hames, also mentioned the ‘unlikelihood of justice through the court system’.
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The figure settled on was similar to an amount awarded to a woman recently injured in a helicopter crash.

But by the time of the inquiry’s outcome, Turia’s medical and associated outgoings had already moved into the millions of dollars; and how can you compensate for a young life tragically altered forever? Greg Walsh continued to pursue justice for Turia from RtP. Finally, in February 2013, Greg received a letter from RtP’s lawyers. While RtP remained ‘deeply concerned at the serious injuries’ Turia sustained, that concern did not lead in any way to legal responsibility for those injuries and it denied liability. Subsequent mediation failed.

On 21 February 2013, Greg filed Turia’s statement of claim in the New South Wales Supreme Court. The claim lists a catalogue of omissions by RtP which led to her catastrophic injuries; this included its failure to get advice from the emergency fire authority.

Australians nationwide have taken Turia’s story to their hearts since it hit the headlines in September 2011. In particular, the close-knit community of Milton–Ulladulla, where Turia grew up, rallied quickly to raise funds to defray her family’s considerable expenses.

The first fundraiser was held within weeks of the fire: a local surfing identity, Kurt Nyholm, owner of Milton Akwa Surf, organised a surfing competition at Mollymook Beach. This event raised $20,000.

Later, it became apparent that Turia would live and that her ongoing financial needs would be immense. While the majority of her medical expenses would be covered by Medicare and her health fund, there were other huge ongoing medical and associated costs, such as cosmetic procedures, pressure garments, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, occupational aids, counselling support and day-to-day living expenses during her years of recovery. Turia’s debilitating injuries also meant she would be unable to work for some years.

Her two best friends, Kristen Briggs and Nicola Tucker, decided to set up a formal way for people donate. When they were casting about for a charity that might issue the authority to fundraise on Turia’s behalf, they came across the Fire Foundation, Australia’s only national charity organisation dedicated to supporting fire and burns victims. The foundation was happy to help and, with Turia’s consent, set up a trust account in her name to which she had access.

After that, they contacted Go Fundraise, an online fundraising service provider, and asked if it could liaise directly with the Fire Foundation to set up an online donation page for Turia. They agreed and waived their service fee for two years. The online donation page went live in early March 2012 with a target of $100,000. Hundreds of people donated amounts from $25 to more than $3000 and the target was almost reached within a year. Most donors were individuals who wrote moving and encouraging messages with their donations but social clubs, organisations and small businesses also made donations. Many of her former colleagues at the Argyle Mine raised money individually with the Argyle Shave, which required them to shave their heads for money.

The Kununurra community also got into fundraising. Two hundred and twenty locals in this small town turned up for a trivia night which raised $18,000. Included in this amount was the money raised by auctioning naming rights for a crocodile at the Wyndham Crocodile Park. Turia’s two friends and former flatmates, Mary Kavanagh and Elle McNamara, were part of a group that chipped in for the winning bid to name the 3-metre croc ‘Turia’.

They said they made the purchase in honour of their friend’s good sense of humour and to ensure a bit of it remained in the Kimberley. And indeed, when Mary told Turia about her namesake during her visit to Turia in hospital, Turia loved the idea and had a good laugh. Because crocodiles can live for decades, Turia thought it hilarious that tourists would be asking for many years to come why the croc was called Turia.

Six volunteers from the St John’s Ambulance in Kununurra participated in an annual mountain-bike event called the Gibb River Challenge. Seventy teams entered the event, which is held over five days and covers 740 kilometres of the Gibb River Road, an old stock route. Teams use the event to raise funds for their nominated charity; the St John’s team raised $33,000, which was divided between Turia and Kate. Another event which raised funds for both Turia and Kate was a fun run in Melbourne in September 2012 organised by one of the competitors in the Kimberley Ultramarathon, Samantha Gash. This event raised $30,000 and brought in another $20,000 in online donations.

But the biggest fundraiser of all was one the whole community of Ulladulla got behind – the masquerade ball in the local civic centre hall on 5 May 2012. It was a sell-out, with more than 500 people paying $60 a ticket to attend; many others who couldn’t attend bought ‘virtual tickets’ online for $40 each. The total raised on the night was more than $60,000. The Macquarie Foundation matched one-third of the night’s proceeds, kicking in an additional $20,000.

The ball was the brainchild of Kristen and Nicola and they chose a masked event in deference to Turia having to wear a compression mask; they wanted her to feel comfortable, even though they knew she would only be able to attend for a short time. It was a major event for the two young women to organise but they were fortunate to win the support of everyone they approached. Once they worked out what needed to be supplied, such as catering, alcohol, decorations, lighting, sound, entertainment, raffle prizes and auction items, they contacted everyone they knew who could help or point them in the direction of someone who could.

A friend who was a chef organised the catering; another friend’s father owned a bottle shop and he organised the alcohol; decorations were done by local girlfriends; businesses in the surrounding district donated items to raffle or for the live auctions. The highlight of the auctions was a diamond donated by Rio Tinto, owners of the Argyle Diamond Mine, where Turia had been working.

A photo booth was set up where people could pay $5 to have their photos taken – one to keep and one to go into a memory book for Turia. People who bought virtual tickets were asked to send a photo of themselves; these were printed and pasted on balloons which became part of the decorations; the balloons were photographed and sent to each virtual guest so they could see what a great night their virtual self had enjoyed.

Turia used this money to fund her trip to the specialist burns clinic, the Ster Centre in France, in March 2013.

In the weeks following the fire, Turia’s family was overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people. Michael Pitt was moved to write a letter to the
Milton Ulladulla Times
:

Thank you from the Pitt Family of Ulladulla. Thank you to the wonderful people of this great town. The well wishes, kind thoughts, offers of help as well as donations from so many of you have touched our hearts as a family. You all need to know that this has been an inspiration to Turia as she faces the greatest challenge of her life. She is conscious, aware, positive, and progressing well with her recovery.

To all those who have been involved in saving Turia’s life, we can never thank you enough.

The fellow runners who found, and attended to Turia and Kate at the scene of the accident, and who ran for help; the courageous and skilled helicopter pilot who airlifted the girls out; the paramedic and St John’s Ambulance volunteers who attended the girls; the Royal Flying Doctor Service who flew the girls to Darwin General Hospital, and Careflight, who flew them on to Sydney and Melbourne. The staff of both Darwin General Hospital and the skilled surgeons, nurses and staff of Concord General Repatriation Hospital.