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Katie Piper

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Katie Piper
Born (1983-10-12) 12 October 1983 (age 40)
Andover, Hampshire, England, UK
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Campaigner, television presenter, writer, model

Kate Elizabeth "Katie" Piper (born 12 October 1983) is a former model and television presenter from Andover, Hampshire in England, UK. Piper had hoped to have a full-time career in the media, but in March 2008 sulphuric acid was thrown in her face. The attack, which blinded Piper in one eye, was arranged by Piper's black ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch, and carried out by an accomplice, Stefan Sylvestre. Lynch and Sylvestre were arrested and are serving life sentences in prison for their crimes.[citation needed]

The attack took place in North London and Piper was treated in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where the surgeons removed all the skin from her face before rebuilding it with a skin substitute and then a skin graft. The procedure was the first of its kind to be completed in a single operation.[citation needed]

In 2009, Piper chose to give up her anonymity and attempt to increase awareness about burn victims. The Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face was first aired on 29 October 2009 as part of the Cutting Edge series; it has subsequently been repeated on several occasions, made available for online on-demand access, and sold internationally.

More recently, Piper has appeared in a follow-up series for Channel 4, released a best-selling autobiography, and had a regular column in weekly magazine Reveal; however, she primarily works for her charitable organisation the Katie Piper Foundation.

Early life and education

Kate Elizabeth Piper was born in Andover, Hampshire, and attended Harrow Way School and Portway Junior school as a child.[1][2][3]

After leaving school, Piper trained as a beautician, aiming to build on her fondness for fashion and beauty, and to follow in the footsteps of her father, who worked as a barber.[4]

Career prior to attack

Piper subsequently began a career in modelling; she took part in various fashion, glamour and promotional photoshoots during her career, including modelling for national newspapers.[5]

Piper also entered competitive beauty pageants and contests; she was the 2nd runner-up in the Miss Winchester 2006 beauty pageant,[6] and took part in Maxim magazine's Little Black Book contest in 2006.

Piper also began work as a promotional model – appearing and carrying out publicity duties at live events, such as working as a ring-card girl at martial arts fixtures.[7] It was through her work as a ring-girl that Piper became known within the MMA (mixed martial arts) community.

Piper also conducted a career as a digital television presenter, working principally on web-TV shows and features,[8] and on small digital television channels, primarily in the shopping and live-chat fields. As her career began to develop, Piper moved away from her family home in Hampshire, and began to live with friends in a flat in the Golders Green area of North London.

Assault and acid attack

Daniel Lynch, a martial arts enthusiast who had been tracking Piper's media and modelling career, met her through the online social site Facebook.[9] Unknown to her, Lynch had previously been jailed for throwing boiling water into a man's face.[10] The two first met in person in Reading, Berkshire, where Piper had been working,[10] and initially Piper was pleased with the relationship.[10][11]

Two weeks into their relationship, the couple booked into a hotel in Bayswater, following a meal out.[10][11] In the hotel room, Lynch raped and beat Piper, threatened to cut her with a razor and hang her, and stabbed her several times in the arms.[11] After eight hours at the hotel,[11] they drove back to Piper's Golders Green flat.[10] Piper was treated for her wounds at Royal Free Hospital, but withheld the nature of the incident from the doctors and police, because she was afraid of Lynch.[10][11]

Piper received numerous phone calls and apologies from Lynch. Two days after the initial attack, Lynch persuaded Piper to go to an internet cafe to read an email he had sent to her Facebook account.[10][11] Lynch gave her details to Stefan Sylvestre, who identified her on Golders Green Road.[9][10] Wearing a hoodie to obscure his identity, Sylvestre approached Piper, who thought he was going to ask for money,[10][11] and then threw sulphuric acid at her face.[3][12] The attack was caught on CCTV,[10] and both Lynch and Sylvestre were later arrested.[13] Lynch received two life sentences, and will serve a minimum of 16 years. Sylvestre received a life sentence, and will serve a minimum of 12 years.[11] As a pre-trial inmate Lynch was held in the Pentonville Prison.[14]

Post-attack: medical treatment and recovery

Following the attack, Piper ran into a local café, where an ambulance was called for.[11] Crews had to wait an hour before being able to treat Piper, because of the risk presented by the acid, which was still unidentified at that point, and Sylvestre, who could still have been nearby.[10] Piper was treated in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where her treatment was led by Dr. Mohammad Ali Jawad.[9][11] The acid, some of which Piper had swallowed, blinded her in her left eye, and caused partial thickness and full thickness burns.[3][10][13] The surgeons completely removed the skin of Piper's face, and replaced it with a skin substitute, Matriderm, to build the foundations for a skin graft.[10][13] This procedure was the first of its kind to be done in a single operation.[3][10] Piper was put into an induced coma for 12 days, during which her weight dropped to 38 kg (84 lbs).[10] She has been through a total of 40 surgical operations to treat her injuries,[15] and wore a plastic face mask for 23 hours a day,[5] which flattened the scars and helped retain moisture.[13] As part of her care from the National Health Service, Piper was treated at a clinic in southern France.[10][11] The treatment she received there was designed to break down scar tissue, and prevent skin contraction.[11]

Following the acid attack, Piper moved out of her London flat and returned to Hampshire to live with her parents and younger sister Susy.[11] Her mother, Diane Piper, who was a classroom assistant in a primary school, gave up her job so she could look after her daughter following the attack.[10] Her father, David, is a businessman.[10]

Publicity

Katie: My Beautiful Face

Although Piper had the right to remain anonymous because of the sexual assault, she chose to waive her anonymity, in an attempt to increase public awareness of the situation for burn victims, and also the treatment they go through.[3][9][16] Piper also took part in a documentary about her experience, Katie: My Beautiful Face, which was aired by Channel 4 on 29 October 2009,[9][10] and, according to figures from Attentional, gained over 3.3 million viewers.[17] The programme was repeated three times during 2009: once on Christmas Day 2009 on Channel 4 (to tie in with Piper giving the Alternative Christmas Message) and twice on More4 (in early November and late December, each a few days after a C4 screening). There was further More4 screening on 13 February 2011 ahead of the release of Piper's book and follow-up series. The film was broadcast to viewers in Wales on the now-defunct analogue service of S4C on 15 November 2009 at midnight:[18] digital viewers in Wales had access to the Channel 4 and More4 broadcasts.

The documentary has been made available for global sale by Mentorn International and has been picked up for broadcast in a number of territories.[19] The film has also been made available to UK viewers on an on-demand basis over Channel 4's online 4oD platform[20] and the 4oD channel on YouTube UK's TV Shows section. The Documentary is also available to watch on Netflix in the UK.

Alternative Christmas Message 2009

On 25 December 2009, Katie Piper read out the 'Alternative Christmas Message 2009' on Channel 4.[21][22] The message was about Piper's own experiences, family, and not judging people by their appearance.[21] The Message was produced by Mentorn Media, the firm which also produced "Katie: My Beautiful Face".

20/20

On 8 January 2010, the ABC (US)'s news-magazine television series 20/20 featured Katie Piper as its primary subject. The programme consisted of a new interview with Piper, conducted by Elizabeth Vargas, and footage of Piper at home, including material which had appeared in "Katie: My Beautiful Face".[23]

Other appearances

Katie Piper has appeared on a number of television and radio programmes to talk about her experience; the Australian series 60 Minutes featured Piper in November 2009.[24] In the same month, she appeared on Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy-hosted television-led debate The TV Show[25] to discuss the reaction to the original documentary.

Piper has also appeared as a guest on a number of British magazine and news programmes including Live From Studio Five, Woman's Hour,[26] BBC Breakfast[27] and This Morning.[28] Outside the UK, Piper has appeared on broadcasters including CNN.[29]

On 28 April 2010, she spoke (in a non-party political manner) at a Labour Party election press conference, where she described how CCTV cameras had been instrumental in convicting her attackers.[30] Piper also attended the Glam in the City event, which took place in Glasgow in June 2010.[31]

Katie Piper appeared on The Michael Ball Show on 6 September 2010, and Lorraine on 7 October 2010.[32] On 3 November she appeared in a Norwegian talk show called Trude.

Around the time of the broadcast of Katie: My Beautiful Friends, Piper appeared on a number of magazine and features programmes to discuss the series, in some cases accompanied by one of the ambassadors; these appearances included This Morning (with Adele), The Vanessa Show (with Amitish), Fern (with Kayleigh), OK! TV and Loose Women (Piper alone). Piper also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live with Chantelle as guests of Phil Williams (sitting in for Victoria Derbyshire), but prior to their going on air Chantelle was insulted by a security guard at the studios,[33] an incident which was subsequently referred to by Williams on-air during the interview.

Piper began a regular column in Reveal magazine in April 2011. This ended in July 2012.

In December 2011, Piper took part in her second Alternative Christmas Message for Channel 4; in one of two messages broadcast that year, Piper was joined by partcipants from Seven Dwarves, Beauty and the Beast: Ugly Face of Prejudice and My Transsexual Summer for a message with the theme "Just Be Yourself" (the other message featured senior staff from the school featured in Educating Essex.)

Awards and nominations

Katie: My Beautiful Face was nominated for "Best Single Documentary" at the BAFTA Television Awards in June 2010, but did not win – the trophy was awarded to BBC One's Wounded.[34]

The previous month, director Jessie Versluys had won the Breakthrough Talent prize at the 2010 Craft BAFTA ceremony, for her credits including Katie: My Beautiful Face and The Hospital.[35]

Katie Piper attended both BAFTA ceremonies, accompanying Versluys to the Craft event.[36][37]

Katie Piper was named winner of the 'Courage Award' at the Pride of Andover Awards (supported by Andover Sound) in October 2010;[38] then, on 6 October Piper was announced as winner of the publicly voted 'Most Inspirational' prize at the Inspiration Awards for Women.[39]

Piper also won the "Women to Watch: Inspiration" award at Red magazine's "Red's Hot Women Awards" in 2010.[40]

In February 2011, Katie: My Beautiful Face won the "Best Documentary Programme" award at the Broadcast Awards; Piper attended to collect the prize alongside the film-makers.[41]

Piper was awarded the Sainsbury's Women of the Year "You Can" Award at the Women of the Year Awards 2011, held in October 2011.[42]

Autobiography

In 2010 it was revealed that Katie Piper would be releasing an autobiography. Piper's book, which is called Beautiful, was published in paperback by Ebury Press on 17 February 2011.[43] Segments of the book were serialised over two weeks in late January/early February 2011 in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.[44][45]

Katie: My Beautiful Friends

In May 2010 it was confirmed that Katie Piper would be involved in a new series for Channel 4. The series would again see Piper working with Mentorn Media, producer of Katie: My Beautiful Face. The series features Piper meeting people who have been disfigured, disabled or physically altered as a result of illness, injury, assault, accident or surgery.[46][47] A call for potential interview subjects appeared on Channel 4's 'Take Part' website in May 2010.[48] The films also chronicle the development and growth of the Katie Piper Foundation, and Piper's efforts towards this. The series is titled Katie: My Beautiful Friends,[49] and began its four-part run on 22 March 2011. Items of supporting information and relevant associated content relating to the programme were placed on the Channel 4 website in tandem with the programme's broadcast.[49] The series was broadcast in America on the OWN from 16 August 2011.

Episode guide

Episode Description Airdate
1.1 Katie meets Chantelle, who suffers from arteriovenous malformation and requires urgent surgery, and Adele, a teenage ballerina scalded when she suffered an epileptic fit in the shower. 22 March 2011
1.2 Katie meets Will, a teenager beginning his road to recovery after a recent barbecue explosion, and Emily, a graduate burned in a house fire as a child. 29 March 2011
1.3 Katie meets Amit, a university student with neurofibromatosis, and aspiring comic book illustrator Andrew, who has Treacher-Collins syndrome. 5 April 2011
1.4 Katie meets Pfeiffer syndrome sufferer Kayleigh, and George, who is undergoing surgery for a form of inherited skin cancer. She also revisits Chantelle to check on her progress. 12 April 2011

2012

On 7 February 2012, Channel 4 broadcast a new one-off film featuring Piper as she prepared to undergo stem-cell surgery in a bid to restore sight in her damaged left eye. "Katie: The Science of Seeing Again"[50] saw Piper look into the biology of the eye, visit America to look into the religious and moral debate around the use of embryos in stem-cell research, and monitored her as she underwent the treatment at a hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex. As with Piper's five previous Channel 4 films, this was produced by Mentorn Media. Within the programme Piper revealed she had undergone 109 medical operations in the four years since the acid attack, with the eye operation being her 110th.

It was also announced in early 2012 that, following the success of Beautiful, Piper had signed a new three-book deal with publisher Quercus, which will see her writing a series of new titles, due to begin in May 2012 with the release of a self-help book to be titled Things Get Better: If you believe then you will survive.[51]

The next book bearing Piper's name will be a page-a-day compilation of positive affirmations, quotes and mantras, Start Your Day with Katie, to be released late September 2012; in the build-up to this, Quercus ran a selection of quotes from the book during September on a dedicated Blogspot page.[52]

Katie Piper appeared as a guest on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch in May 2012, and on the channel's 2012 Paralympic Games Breakfast Show on 1 September 2012. She then appeared on the panel of Channel 5's The Wright Stuff on 29 October, an edition of the show guest-hosted by Richard Madeley.

In October 2012, Piper participated in a new week-long series for Channel 4. Hotel GB saw a group of Channel 4 personalities - headed by Mary Portas, Gordon Ramsay, Gok Wan, Kirstie Allsopp, Phil Spencer, Christian Jessen, Kim Woodburn and Piper - running a London hotel with the aim of training a group of young unemployed people for potential careers in the hospitality industry, with viewers able to visit the hotel as guests and use the facilities. Piper drew on her past as a beautician to run the hotel's salon/spa area, assisted by one of the apprentices, Manisha.

Katie Piper Foundation

In late 2009, Katie Piper established a charity, The Katie Piper Foundation, aimed at raising awareness of the plight of victims of burns and other disfigurement injuries: the charity also campaigns for the specialist treatment Piper received – such as the after-care scheme undertaken in France – to be more widely available to patients in Britain.[53] Simon Cowell is a patron of the foundation,[15] along with her surgeon Dr. Mohammad Ali Jawad.

References

  1. ^ "Support For Katie". Andover Sound. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  2. ^ "Katie relives acid attack horror". Andover Advertiser. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e Syson, Neil (19 October 2009). "New face of brave Katie". London: The Sun. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Relative Values", Times Online, 28 February 2010[dead link]
  5. ^ a b "My Beautiful Face". BBC. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  6. ^ [1][dead link]
  7. ^ "Images of Katie Piper working as a 'ring girl'". Katiepiper.co.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  8. ^ "'Super Smoke Me', a 2007 film for Current TV featuring Piper". Current.com. 1 July 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Model's Struggle After Brutal Acid Attack". Sky News. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Murfitt, Nicky (19 October 2009). "I was savagely disfigured by my deranged boyfriend: Acid attack victim bravely shows her face". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Katie: My Beautiful Face". 29 October 2009. Channel 4. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |began=, |episodelink=, |ended=, and |city= (help); Missing or empty |series= (help)
  12. ^ Burke, Myles (20 October 2009). "Acid attack model talks about recovery". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  13. ^ a b c d "Acid attack model Katie Piper reveals she wanted to die after burns wrecked her face". Mirror News. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  14. ^ "Prison officer had affair with cage fighter locked up for acid attack on aspiring TV presenter." Daily Mail. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  15. ^ a b "Simon Cowell becomes patron of burns charity set up by model left disfigured after acid attack". Daily Mail Online. 14 July 2002.
  16. ^ "Katie: My Beautiful Face Interview". Channel 4. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  17. ^ "Katie's face brings 3.3m to C4". Broadcast Now. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  18. ^ S4C viewing figures for week of 'Katie: My Beautiful Face' broadcast
  19. ^ Rosser, Michael (25 March 2010). "Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  20. ^ "'Katie: My Beautiful Face' at 4oD (UK only)". Channel4.com. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  21. ^ a b "Alternative Christmas Message". 25 December 2009. 5 minutes in. Channel 4. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |episodelink=, |ended=, and |city= (help); Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |began= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ Wardrop, Murray (12 December 2009). "Acid attack victim Katie Piper to give Channel 4's alternative Christmas message". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  23. ^ "C21 Media". C21 Media. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  24. ^ "Katie Piper on Australian TV". Video.au.msn.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  25. ^ "The TV Show, Channel 4". Blogs.channel4.com. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  26. ^ "BBC Woman's Hour". BBC. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  27. ^ "BBC Breakfast". BBC News. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  28. ^ "This Morning". Itv.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  29. ^ Posted by WRC (12 January 2010). "Footage from CNN interview". Ourfuturehasnoviolenceagainstwomen.blogspot.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  30. ^ "Election 2010: Parties face scrutiny of spending plans". BBC News. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  31. ^ Bolouri, Yvonne (19 June 2010). "The Scottish Sun, June 2010". Thescottishsun.co.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  32. ^ "Daybreak". Itv.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  33. ^ Bloxham, Andy (19 March 2011). "BBC guard tells disfigured radio guest 'You're taking Red Nose Day a bit too far'". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  34. ^ "Television BAFTA winners/nominees 2010". bafta.org. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  35. ^ "2010 BAFTA Craft winners/nominations". bafta.org. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  36. ^ "Video interview with Katie Piper and Jessie Versluys following Craft BAFTAs". YouTube. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  37. ^ "Video interview with Katie Piper on arrival at Television BAFTAs". YouTube. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  38. ^ "Pride of Andover Awards at Andover Sound". Andoversound.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  39. ^ "Inspiration Awards for Women at Daily Mail". Daily Mail. UK. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  40. ^ "Red's Hot Women Awards: Tips from previous winners". Redonline.co.uk. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  41. ^ "STV report on Broadcast Awards". Entertainment.stv.tv. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  42. ^ Daily Mirror, 17 October 2011
  43. ^ "The Bookseller on Katie Piper's book Beautiful". Thebookseller.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  44. ^ Katie Piper (30 January 2011). "MoS serialisation of Beautiful, part one". Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  45. ^ Katie Piper (6 February 2011). "MoS serialisation of Beautiful, part two". Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  46. ^ "The Sun, July 2010". The Sun. UK. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  47. ^ "Digital Spy, July 2010". Digital Spy. UK. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  48. ^ Channel 4 Take Part page for 2011 series[dead link]
  49. ^ a b "Channel 4 programme page for 'Katie: My Beautiful Friends', activated autumn 2010 ahead of early 2011 broadcast". Channel4.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  50. ^ "Katie: The Science of Seeing Again", Channel 4
  51. ^ The Bookseller "Quercus buys three from remarkable Piper", 31 January 2012
  52. ^ 'Start Your Day With Katie' page at Blogspot.com
  53. ^ "Katie Piper Foundation official website". Katiepiperfoundation.org.uk. Retrieved 27 August 2011.

Further reading

  • Katie Piper, Beautiful: A beautiful girl. An evil man. One inspiring true story of courage, (Ebury Press, 2011) ISBN 978-0-09-194076-8
  • Katie Piper, Things Get Better (Quercus Books, 2012) ISBN 9781780874777

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