Acid attack survivor Katie Piper has urged viewers to “appreciate the beautiful things and the beautiful people that you have in your life now” during Channel 4’s alternative to the Queen’s Christmas Day speech.
Before the attack, Piper was a model and aspiring TV presenter. This autumn, she appeared in the acclaimed documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face, which prompted thousands of supportive messages from the public.
In her Christmas message, Piper reflected on the progress she has made over the past year and the way strangers’ kindness has helped her move forward.
Piper’s life changed dramatically after her former boyfriend, Daniel Lynch, raped her and arranged for another man to throw acid in her face, leaving her fighting for survival.
The acid burned through all four layers of skin on Katie Piper’s face, spilling into her throat and leaving her blind in one eye. She has since endured more than 30 operations to rebuild her face and throat.
Yet Piper says it was the tragedy that forced her to reevaluate what she calls her once “self-obsessed” life.
“This year,” she shared, “I wanted to give a Christmas message to everybody out there who might have had a Christmas like I did last year.”
Katie Piper recalls that before the attack, Christmas meant little more than routine: “I’d go home to my parents on Christmas Eve, have a few drinks, see them, spend Christmas Day chilling out, and go home on Boxing Day. My life before was very self-absorbed, self-obsessed, and it took a tragedy for me to reassess what I felt and what I thought was important.”
Now, her message carries a deeper weight. “Don’t wait until there is tragedy in your life. Don’t wait until you lose somebody. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Appreciate the beautiful things and the beautiful people that you have in your life now.”
