text: Inspirational speaker Turia Pitt, who suffered horrific burns when she was caught in a bushfire, has revealed she still struggles to overcome her near-death ordeal. The 27-year-old said just the smell from a barbecue brought back the traumatic moment she was trapped for four hours where she suffered burns to 65 per cent of her body. Speaking to a Networking WA audience at Crown Perth on Wednesday, the burns survivor said she still feels haunted when she talks about being caught in the bushfire when she competed in an ultra-marathon in Kimberley in September 2011. 'My heart rate has just gone up, my hands are sweating, my mouth is all of the sudden dry,' she said, The West Australian reports. 'This happens even if I go to a seemingly harmless barbecue. As soon as I smell that smoke, immediately I am transported back.' Scroll down for video . Burns survivor Turia Pitt said she still struggles to overcome her ordeal during a speech on Wednesday . The motivational speaker suffered burns to 65 per cent of her body when she competed in an ultra-marathon . Ms Pitt also revealed she ran her first marathon last month since the fire and clocked a faster time than before she was injured. 'As soon as I took that first step, it was as if all my worries and fears dissipated,' Ms Pitt said. 'I had finished the run but I also beat my time from before my injury.' The revelation follows after she successfully underwent reconstructive surgery to rebuild a nose but she was not expecting complications where she had stopped breathing during the procedure. When Ms Pitt woke up from her surgery, she expected to wake up in the burns unit with a brand new nose but  the moment she woke up in intensive care, she revealed she just wanted to die. 'At that point, all I wanted was death because I had worked so hard just to end up in the same situation,' Ms Pitt said. But she marked a new milestone in her recovery after another harrowing heath scare where her family feared the worst as she told Woman's Day: 'I can't believe I didn't have a nose for so long'. Ms Pitt went on to publish a book about her experiences - aptly titled Everything to Live For and fund raised almost $200,000 for surgical charity Interplast, . As she embarked on her own road to resilience, Ms Pitt is currently training ahead of the 10-day fund raising trek along the Inca Trail in Peru where she is getting up early every morning to prepare. Ms Pitt also revealed she was back on the race tracks for the first time since the fire . Before: Ms Pitt spent more than two years in hospital, much of it wearing a compression stocking (left) after experiencing burns to around 65 per cent of the body. Her face is pictured right prior to the reconstructive surgery on her nose performed recently . New nose: Turia Pitt, pictured with mother Celestine and her new nose, was competing in an ultra-marathon through WA's Kimberley region in 2011 when she was caught in a bushfire . Soul mates: Turia Pitt's boyfriend, Michael Hoskin, has been by her side since the very beginning of her hospital experience . Prior to the bushfire, Ms Pitt, from Ulladulla, on the NSW south coast, worked as a mining engineer and a model . In an interview with Women's Day last month, her mother, Celestine Vaite, said she and Turia's partner Michael Hoskin heard the hospital's cardiac arrest alarm go off 'and we thought she was gone' during the nose reconstruction. 'I said, God, don't you dare. She's fought so hard, this girl,' she told the magazine. 'She fought to get out of bed, she fought to walk, she fought to accept - don't you dare do that to her!' Ms Pitt wore a compression stocking for almost two years and had seven of her fingers amputated during a seemingly endless series of operations. Her family were relieved when she woke - and Ms Pitt is happily showing off her reconstructed nose on social media. Milestone woman: Ms Pitt published a book about her experiences, aptly titled Everything to Live For . Ms Pitt agreed to an out-of-court settlement with ultra-marathon event organisers Racing The Planet in 2014 . Ultra-marathon runner: Ms Pitt is planning to participate in the Melbourne Ironman in 2016 . Burns victim: Ms Pitt experienced burns to around 70 per cent of her body during the 2011 bushfire. After years of recovery, Ms Pitt told Woman's Day: 'I can't believe I didn't have a nose for so long!' It's just the latest in a series of milestones for Ms Pitt, who starred on the front cover of magazine The Australian Women's Weekly in June 2014. The cover won praise for featuring Ms Pitt. Ms Pitt has headlined a number of a speaking opportunities and in June 2014 she trekked the Great Wall of China to raise more than $175,000AUD for the charity Interplast. Interplast sends teams of volunteer medical workers to developing countries in Asia to provide free surgery for people suffering conditions including cleft lip and palate and burn scar contractures. Ms Pitt is hosting the second annual fund-raising Gala night on April 16 to raise  funds and awareness for Interplast. Ms Pitt told Woman's Day she is planning to participate in the Melbourne Ironman next year, following an operation to 'refine her nose and widen her nostrils'. Ms Pitt and Mr Hoskin currently live in Ulladulla, on the south coast of New South Wales.
target: Turia Pitt said she starts to sweat and her mouth dries up when she talks about her traumatic bushfire ordeal .
  She also revealed she was back running and clocked a faster time than before she was injured .
  The revelation follows after surgeons successfully constructed a new nose .
  But the 27-year-old stopped breathing on the operating table .
  Ms Pitt had to be placed on an incubator in order to survive the operation .
  When she woke up in intensive care, she said she just wanted to die .
  But Ms Pitt is now proudly showing off her new facial feature .