Katie Piper shares distressing image of her life-changing injuries post 2008 acid attack, says 'hold on pain ends'
Katie Piper, 35, took to social media to share a distressing image of the injuries that she sustained post being attacked with acid in 2008.
The TV presenter had suffered burns to the neck and face after her former boyfriend David Lynch attacked her in a jealous rage. Piper took to Instagram on 'World Mental Health Day' on October 10 as she shared pictures of her own injuries. She captioned the picture, "I remember when I didn’t want to look at anyone. I remember when I didn’t want anyone to look at me. I remember when I was scared of people, scared of men."
"I remember when I was scared of the world. I remember when opening up to people and talking about my trauma and psychological damage just wasn’t possible. Today, on Mental Health Day my first meeting of the day is with my therapist. I still go, it still helps and I’m able to talk. Hold On Pain Ends," she continued.
Lynch had also recruited Stefan Sylvestre to help target her in a planned attack which took place when she was outside her home in North London. Lynch was given two life terms while Sylvestre served out 6 years of his life sentence before being released in 2018.
As a result of the horrific attack, Piper had to undergo more than 40 operations to treat her burns. This also included pioneering surgery which removed the damaged skin from her face and replaced it with a substitute. Around 12 years after the attack, Piper also had to have surgery to cauterize the blood vessels in her left eye.
In February, Piper had flown to Pakistan to have another operation with her long-time plastic surgeon, Dr. Muhammad Ali Jawad. Dr. Jawad was responsible for Piper's reconstruction surgery post the attack. The attack had left Piper blinded in her left eye, and had caused partial-thickness and full-thickness burns.