Katie Piper - A Super human being

Katie Piper

You can idolise all the footballers and pop stars you want but until you come across someone like Katie Piper you won't fully understand what the words heroic or bravery means. In the past few weeks my wife and I have been watching a documentary called "My Beautiful Friends" on Channel 4 about a former model and TV presenter called Katie Piper who was attacked outside her flat in London with her face and body burnt with Sulphuric Acid during that attack.

She met a man called Danny on Facebook and they began seeing each other. Two weeks into their relationship he carried out a vicious sexual assault on her in a London hotel. She thought she wouldn't get out of the ordeal alive, but after eight hours later she convinced him that they had a future together and they left the hotel together. Obviously, she would have told him whatever was necessary to get out alive. After returning to her flat later that day she decided not to call the police. A decision that proved very costly in the end for Katie but one can only imagine the fear she must have experienced after such an ordeal.

Danny began texting her asking her to go to a nearby Internet cafe where she could access an e-mail he had sent her. After some time Katie decided to go. When she left her flat, she noticed a hooded man approaching her from across the street but thought nothing of it initially. She immediately assumed he was a beggar as he was holding a coffee cup with both hands. While she held her phone between her ear and shoulder and tried to get some change from her handbag the "beggar" threw the contents of the coffee cup into her face. This of course was the sulphuric acid and the nightmare began then for Ms.Piper.

She knew straight away that Danny had orchestrated this attack and could feel the acid eat away at her face. She ran into her local cafe seeking assistance and they called the ambulance. Her story since is shocking and sad but the more I hear of this young woman the more inspiring she becomes. A remarkable person with super human powers in terms of being able to deal with the shit cards she has been dealt.

She has gone through at least 30 something general anaesthetic operations to reconstruct her face and everyday brings a new challenge for her and through all this she remains positive and has now started her foundation. She is unbelievably inspirational and brave and still beautiful and must be an absolute God send to other burn sufferers.

We can all learn something from her and everyone who has suffered like her. We are all guilty of complaining about stupid small things and taking what we have for granted and Katie's bravery is like a bolt of cop on.

I hope she continues her fantastic work and that she herself continues to recover well from her traumatic past. She definitely is a hero of mine now and I'm sure the many hundereds of thousands who have seen her on Channel 4 feel the same way.

Below you will see links to her documentaries, well worth a watch. Also her organisation.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/katie-my-beautiful-face/4od#3019774
http://www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk/