Katie Piper has boldly described her very personal experience on how she has rebuilt her life after a horrific acid attack that left her permanently scarred on her face and went through over 400 procedures. Addressing an emotional tribute event at her memoir Still Beautiful, the panellist of the Loose Women talked about the trauma, turning the loss of self development, and finally, the resilience found on the other side of unbearable suffering.
Remembering her younger days, Katie acknowledged that she held her physical image in almost the highest esteem, in her early twenties. She confessed that in her twenties she actually believed that she was powerful because she was pretty. I was treated differently at the time. People heard better, doors opened quicker. All that changed overnight.” Her utterance implied the slight but huge social privileges she used to enjoy in her life, benefits she lost her life at once because of the devasting action that took away the rest of her life.
The assault took place in 2008 and was organized by a man with whom Katie had been dating. The attack rendered her almost blind and caused her serious wounds on her face, neck, and chest. However, the apparent scars were accompanied by underlying wounds that were not visible. She was forced to face the reality of losing what she found essential to her self-worth, her appearance, and re-learn a new form of self-worth without using the privilege of being pretty that society had once granted her.
A man throws acid on the woman in order to remove her power, explained Katie with appalling clarity, in order to destroy her power, so that she feels that she is not needed in this world anymore. However, in spite of the intention of the attacker to break her, Katie managed to overcome the violence with a sense of intense determination. It is just a lot more underneath what you see on the surface, she said. Now I am here in the strongest place I have ever been.
At 41, Katie has made her trauma be her purpose. She acts as a role model to other burns survivors and has since become an ardent crusader in redefining beauty and resilience. Via her books, her speeches and television appearances, she is still helping to break the old beauty ideals and it is not skin deep to be strong, courageous and have self worth. Her story has become an incredible manifestation that scars can alter the way we look, but they cannot suck out the value that we possess or our voice.
