Childhood & Early Years
Katie Piper was born Kate Elizabeth Piper, on October 12, 1983, in Andover, UK, to David and Diane Piper. Her father worked as a barber, while her mother was a school teacher. Katie was the second child in the family and had an elder brother and a younger sister.
As a child, Katie was a tomboy and the loudest of all her siblings. She was extremely mischievous and threw tantrums. All the three kids were enrolled in karate and ballet classes. Katie attended ‘Portway Junior School’ and ‘Harrow Way School.’ *She aspired to enter the beauty industry, following in her father’s footsteps. Soon after graduating from high school, she started training to become a beautician.
Continue Reading Below
Early Career
Katie Piper had become increasingly attracted toward the idea of modeling while she trained to become a beautician. She moved to London to start her modeling career and started getting steady work.
She received offers for several glamor shoots and promotional shoots during the early phase of her career. By the mid-2000s, she was already appearing in national newspapers.
She also participated in competitive beauty pageants. In 2006, she became the second runner-up in the ‘Miss Winchester’ pageant. The same year, she also appeared in Maxim’s ‘Little Black Book’ contest.
She also participated in promotional activities for live events. She carried out promotional and publicity duties at a number of live events and also worked as the ring-card girl at mixed martial arts (MMA) events. She soon became a known name in the English MMA industry.
Katie also worked as a digital TV presenter in a number of web series. She was also seen in shopping and live-chat platforms. As her career started gaining a significant pace, she moved permanently from her Hampshire house to North London.
The Acid-Attack
In early 2008, Katie met a man named Daniel Lynch on ‘Facebook.’ They started talking and bonded over their mutual love for martial arts. They met for the first time a few days later, in Berkshire, and started dating soon after. Daniel came across as a good guy and Katie was initially quite content with the relationship.
However, Daniel was a psychopath and started showing his true nature soon. One evening, the couple booked a hotel in Bayswater to spend the night after dinner. That night, Daniel raped Katie and beat her up severely, stabbing her arms repeatedly. He also threatened to kill her if she broke up with him.
Katie was afraid and did not break up with him, fearing for her life. She got her wounds treated at the ‘Royal Free Hospital.’ She refrained from filing a police complaint against Daniel.
Following the incident, Daniel called and messaged Katie several times, apologizing for his behavior. On March 31, 2008, Daniel asked Katie to visit a nearby internet cafe to read an email that he had sent her. He had already planned an attack with his friend Stefan Sylvestre.
Continue Reading Below
Daniel gave Katie’s details to Stefan. Stefan approached Katie in a hoodie, but she did not know what his intentions were. He suddenly threw sulphuric acid at her face, burning it badly. He then fled the scene. However, CCTV cameras had recorded his act, and both Daniel and Stefan were apprehended shortly after.
Daniel was given a 16-year sentence, while Stefan was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years. Stefan’s parole application was accepted in 2018.
Katie’s face was severely burned. She was blinded in her left eye and had also swallowed some of the acid accidentally. She was immediately taken to a nearby hospital. During the first course of her treatment, the skin from her face was completely removed and was replaced with a skin substitute.
She was put into an induced coma for the first 12 days, as several surgeries were performed on her face to restore the damaged skin. Her remaining treatment was done in a hospital in southern France. She had to wear a plastic mask 23 hours a day for 2 years.
She moved to Hampshire to live with her family after her treatment.
Career post-trauma
After living in anonymity for a while, Katie decided to go out in public. In October 2009, ‘Channel 4’ aired a documentary titled ‘Katie: My Beautiful Face,’ which was watched by more than 3 million viewers. The documentary also won a ‘BAFTA’ nomination.
It featured Katie and her family members as she talked about her life before the attack and how hard it was to go through intense surgeries.
In January 2010, she appeared in a TV series named ‘20/20,’ produced by ‘ABC.’ The same year, reports suggested that Katie would appear in another TV presentation for ‘Channel 4,’ ‘Katie: My Beautiful Friends.’ The series featured Katie as she met people who had been through disfigurements, due to illnesses, injuries, attacks, or accidents.
Katie has also appeared on a number of talk shows, such as ‘Live From Studio Five’ and ‘BBC Breakfast.’ Some of her other notable TV projects were ‘Strictly Come Dancing,’ ‘Celebrity Deal or No Deal,’ and ‘The Vanessa Show.’
Katie published her autobiography, ‘Beautiful,’ in 2011. Following the success of the book, she signed a three-book deal with the publisher, ‘Quercus.’
In April 2011, Katie started working as a regular columnist for the weekly magazine ‘Reveal.’ In 2012, she started a regular writing job as a columnist for ‘Now.’
She also started the ‘Katie Piper Foundation’ for providing financial aid to burn victims and other patients suffering from disfigurement.
