She was burned to the point of death on her neck and face in 2008, after her ex-boyfriend’s jealousy led him to recruit an accomplice in a planned street attack near her northern London house.On the show on Tuesday’s Loose Women, Katie Piper 38, shared her “Life Before Loose” story. She described how her life changed following the acid attack, which caused her to be disfigured, and also remembered the abuse she received at her throughout her recovery.
In addition to reflecting at the moment that changed her life and led her to her passion, Katie also spoke fondly about her happy childhood in Hampshire and her teenage rebellious time and the move to London. Speaking to Panellists Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan and Janet Street-Porter Katie candidly spoke about how her life was changed when she turned 24. In some ways , it is possible to consider that a good thing life experience. They enhance us, they develop our character, and we could take that experience into the future, but in other ways it affected me quite. It was a strain on my physical and mental health. Certain physical changes that I have experienced are still in progress throughout my medical journey.
She continued: “No one prepares for this.. It was like my entire life was changed within a matter of minutes. A variety of things occur to people, and what’s transpired to me is clearly more visually, but everyone experiences trauma to various levels. Trauma is a part of our lives but it shouldn’t be a sentence for life. The sulphuric acids, some of that Katie had consumed, blinded her within her left eye and also caused partial thickness as well as full burning.
How her parents handled the incident, Katie said: ‘It was a bit complicated because when you think of burns, they imagine soldiers, fires in the kitchen, or fireworks.I do not think that any of us knew how it affected multiple functions and many other medical conditions that we needed to be aware of…
The presenter also talked about the way Simon Cowell helped her in her quest to establish The Katie Piper Foundation which is where she helps burn survivors.Katie was recently awarded an OBE she said: “Taking back that power and being able to speak out was essential to me. I am convinced that in this life, there are certain things that we’re in control of, and we’re the master of our own ship. Your destiny is in your control… What is it to discover your passion at the age of 24. There was another time, Katie reflected on her “great” childhood. She grew in a small town and reminiscing about: ‘I was a teeny-tiny girl. I had a horrible haircut, a bowl cut. My father was barber in the nearby community, as was my mom was worked as a teacher. So you could either get cut hair from my dad or detention from my mom.’
When she spoke about her teenage times, Katie said she was an ‘unpleasant’ teenager. Katie said “I was raised in such an unassuming town, I was really looking forward to city life… It was a time when I was rebellious I was the smoker, the drinker. I would jump from the windows to get out late at night I would pierce the nose… I used coloring my hair using food coloring because I was unable to get access to hair colour. Katie then added that she attended a hair and beauty class and admitted that she wasn’t actually a student.
