AN ANDOVER-born TV presenter and campaigner has spoken of her gratitude for the medical professionals who recently cared for her after she discovered a hole in her eye. 

Katie Piper was badly injured in an acid attack in 2008. The 38-year-old grew up in Andover and attended Basingstoke College of Technology where she was a beauty therapy student. 

In 2009, Katie took the brave decision to give up her anonymity and share her story on Channel 4, in a documentary for Cutting Edge called Katie: My Beautiful Face. Then, in July 2010, she set up The Katie Piper Foundation, a registered charity which aims to make it easier for people to live with burns and scars and helps disfigured people reconnect with their lives.

In January 2022, she was appointed an OBE for her work.

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However, it has not been a plain-sailing year for Katie, as she revealed on Twitter on Wednesday (August 17) that she recently discovered a hole in her eye.

She wrote: “On Saturday my husband noticed a small black circle in my blind eye. I was excited thinking I had a pupil again, but by Sunday my left eye was extremely painful and couldn’t tolerate light, so I patched it up and put it down to old injuries.

“I’m used to being in some level of discomfort and I went to work. By Sunday night I felt nausea and in extreme pain.”

 

She continued: “I got in touch with my eye specialist, Sheraz Daya at Center for Sight, and unfortunately he confirmed the black circle was a hole in my eye and the eye had perforated. This had always been a fear that it would happen.

“Yesterday, Sheraz Daya sourced tissue for me and operated.”

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Sending a public message of thanks to those involved in her care, she said: “I cannot thank him and his team enough, their knowledge and expertise but also how kind and caring they all are. 

“There may be some evil people in this world but there are also some pretty incredible people doing amazing things for people on a daily basis.”