Katie Piper

Katie Piper, born 12th October 1983 is a former model and television presenter from Andover, Hampshire in England. Piper had hoped to have a full-time career in the media, but in March 2008 in North London, sulfuric acid was thrown at her face by Stefan Sylvestre. The acid attack, which blinded Piper in one eye, was arranged by Piper's ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch. Both Sylvestre and Lynch were sentenced to prison for the crime, and are incarcerated.

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.

In 2009, Piper chose to give up her anonymity to try and increase awareness about burn victims. The Channel 4 documentary, Katie: My Beautiful Face, was aired on 29 October 2009 as part of the Cutting Edge series, and repeated on Christmas Day 2009.

Biography

Early life

Katie Piper was born in Andover, Hampshire, and attended Harrow Way School as a child.

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.

Modelling and media 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.

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

Piper also appeared as a promotions model - a branch of modelling which involves modelling and related duties within live events, such as working as a ring-card girl at martial arts events. It was through her work as a ring-girl that Piper became known within the MMA community.

Piper also conducted a career as a digital television presenter, working principally on web-TV shows and features, and on small digital television channels, primarily in the shopping and live-chat fields.

Assault and acid attack

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

Two weeks into their relationship, the couple booked into a hotel in Bayswater, following a meal out. In the hotel room, Lynch viciously raped and beat Piper, and threatened to cut her with a razor and hang her before stabbing her several times in the arms. After eight hours at the hotel, they drove back to Golders Green, where Piper had a flat. 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.

Piper received numerous phone calls and apologies from Lynch. Two days after the attack, Lynch persuaded Piper to go to an internet cafe to read an email he had sent to her Facebook account.Lynch gave her details to Stefan Sylvestre, who identified her on Golders Green Road. Sylvestre approached Piper, who thought he was going to ask for money, and then threw sulfuric acid at her face. The attack was caught on CCTV, and both Lynch and Sylvestre were later arrested. Lynch received two life sentences to be served in the HM Prison Service, and will serve minimum of 16 years imprisonment. Sylvestre received a 12 year sentence, and will serve a minimum of 6 years imprisonment. As a pre-trial inmate Lynch was held in the Pentonville Prison.

Post-attack: medical treatment and recovery

Following the attack, Piper ran into a local café, where an ambulance was called for. 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. Piper was treated in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where her pioneering and revolutionary treatment was led by Dr. Mohammad Ali Jawad. The acid, some of which Piper had swallowed, blinded her in her left eye, and caused third-degree burns. 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.This procedure was the first of its kind to be done in a single operation. Piper was put into an induced coma for 12 days, during which her weight dropped to 38 kg. She has been through a total of 40 surgical operations to treat her injuries, and wears a plastic face mask for 23 hours a day, which flattens the scar and helps retain moisture. As part of her care from the National Health Service, Piper was treated at a clinic in southern France. The treatment she received there was designed to break down scar tissue, and prevent skin contraction.

Following the acid attack, Katie Piper moved out of her London flat and returned to Hampshire to live with her parents and younger sister Susy. 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. Her father, David Piper, is a businessman.

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. Piper also took part in a documentary about her experience, Katie: My Beautiful Face, which was aired by Channel 4 on 29 October 2009, and, according to figures from Attentional, gained over 3.3 million viewers. 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).

The documentary has been made available for global sale by Mentorn International and has been picked up for broadcast in a number of territories.

Alternative Christmas Message 2009

On 25 December 2009, Katie Piper read out the 'Alternative Christmas Message 2009' on Channel 4. The message was about Piper's own experiences, family, and not judging people by their appearance. 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".

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. In the same month, she appeared on Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy-hosted television-led debate The TV Show 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, BBC Breakfast and This Morning. Outside the UK, Piper has appeared on broadcasters including CNN.

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. Piper also attended the Glam in the City event, which took place in Glasgow in June 2010.

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.

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.

Katie Piper attended both BAFTA ceremonies, accompanying Versluys to the Craft event.

2011 series

In May 2010 it was confirmed that Piper would be involved in a new series for Channel 4. Likely to be broadcast in 2011, the series will again see Piper working with Mentorn Media. The series will feature people who have been disfigured, disabled or physically altered as a result of illness, injury, assault, accident or surgery. A call for potential interview subjects appeared on Channel 4's 'Take Part' website in May 2010.. The series is being worked on under the title Katie: My Beautiful Friends, though as with other working-titles, the programme's makers or broadcaster may decide to change that ahead of the broadcast.

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. Simon Cowell is a patron of the foundation.