3 Stars
Pros: Katie was truly transformed, in more ways than I'm sure she wanted to be but through this horrible situation she truly grew as a person and realized that beauty is truly from within.
Cons: Some of the British slang took some getting used to/This should never happen to anyone but agreeing to get a hotel room with someone you've only been seeing for two weeks...that just gives the wrong kind of message, is all I'm saying.
Full Review:
Katie Piper had it all. She was young, beautiful, was taking steps towards a career in the entertainment industry, either in television or through modeling. She really seemed to have everything figured out and knew what she wanted. That is, until she met a boy named Danny. They began seeing each other but after two weeks, everything went to Hell.
She didn't notice it then, but in looking back, she realized how possessive he was, even from the very start. He would constantly be texting/calling/messaging her. It was startling, to say the least, but when you're in that "honeymoon" phase of a relationship, you just don't seem to notice such things. But after two weeks of seeing one another, she agreed to get a hotel room with him. And it started out alright, but throughout the day, she began to see his true personality. He would fly off the handle at the slightest provocation and she realized, with dread, that he was a volatile, loose cannon.
By then, it was too late. He had her trapped and after assaulting her in the hotel room, she managed to convince him that she wouldn't tell anyone what he'd done, that she would keep it all to herself. She was hoping that if she bowed to his demands she would be able to escape, since she had plans to start on a sitcom about models living in a house together, and she felt that she would be safe there.
The day before she was due to leave for the show though, she answered one of his many calls. He was insistent on knowing where she was, claiming that he had a present for her. She didn't know what he meant, she was too exhausted and terrified to dig deeper, but as she was leaving her flat, a man came up to her in a hooded sweatshirt. At first she thought he was a beggar and she began to look in her bag for change, but then, the man, who had been holding a cup, threw the contents of the cup into her face and ran.
It was highly concentrated sulphuric acid and it splashed across the entire left side of her face and began to drip down her neck, chest and arm. She ran into the closest building, which was a café, and phoned a friend who came to her aid. The police were called, she was rushed to the hospital and was immediately taken into emergency surgery. Her surgeon, Mr. Jawad, was a life saver. Through ground breaking treatments, endless referrals to other doctors and constantly being at her side for health and support, he basically saved Katie's life, and she admits that she can never thank him enough.
The months and years after the initial attack were dark and daunting times. Not only did Katie have to relive the horror of what Danny did to her by testifying against him in court, she also had to deal with endless appointments, permanent nerve damage to her nose and throat from having swallowed the acid when she was screaming for help; also the stares, the looks, the whispers whenever she would go out into public, which at first, wasn't often, were never easy to take.
But with the help of her family, friends and some truly groundbreaking techniques in medical knowledge, Katie bounced back. Though she may never again look the way she did when she the attack first occurred, she learned that beauty doesn't come from the outside. That yes, she was physically beautiful, but she also realized that she used to spend hours upon hours getting ready for a night on the town and as she healed from the attack and came to realize what was truly important in life, she understood that that wasn't what beauty was about. Beauty truly comes from within and as a way to thank all those who helped her, and to give back to those who have suffered as she has, she created the Katie Piper foundation. It's a foundation specifically for people who have suffered burns and she hopes that she can help people receive the same amazing treatment that she was able to receive.
This was a tough read, simply for the fact that there are some horrifying sick, twisted, dangerous, evil people in the world and Katie had the extreme misfortune of meeting one of them. You can see the video of her attack from CCTV cameras on YouTube and there's also a documentary that I plan on watching as well. This read was not for the faint of heart, but it is one that will stick with me for a long time to come.
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