Katie Piper, who survived an acid attack, told people to “appreciate the beautiful things and people you have in your life now” during Channel 4’s alternative to the Queen’s Christmas Day speech.
Piper was a model and wanted to be a TV host before the attack. This fall, she was in the well-received documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face, which got thousands of supportive messages from the public.
Piper thought about how far she had come in the past year and how the kindness of strangers had helped her move forward in her Christmas message.
After her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch, raped her and had another man throw acid in her face, Piper’s life changed a lot. She was left fighting for her life.
The acid burned through all four layers of skin on Katie Piper’s face, going down her throat and making her blind in one eye. Since then, she has had more than 30 surgeries to fix her throat and face.
Piper, on the other hand, says that the tragedy made her rethink what she calls her “self-obsessed” life.
“This year,” she said, “I wanted to send a Christmas message to everyone who might have had a Christmas like I did last year.”
Katie Piper says that before the attack, Christmas was just another day: “I’d go home to my parents on Christmas Eve, have a few drinks, see them, and then spend Christmas Day relaxing. I’d go home on Boxing Day.” Before, I was very self-centered and self-absorbed. It took a tragedy for me to think about 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.”
