Story
Hi Everyone.
Thank you for visiting my page. On 12th October
2014 I am taking part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon along with my sister
Katie Piper. I’m not a keen runner, I’m not all that good either (perhaps I
better start training)!
I will be raising money for the charity my sister founded: The Katie Piper
Foundation.
Some of you may be familiar with her story, some may not, so here’s a little
info…
Six years ago my sister Katie was attacked – raped, beaten and had sulphuric
acid thrown in her face. She was a happy-go-lucky 24 year old living with
friends in London doing some modelling and aspiring to be a TV presenter, then
in about 30 seconds her life changed forever.
The skin on her face, neck, chest, one arm & parts of her hands was severely burnt. She was in hospital for 7 weeks, including 12 days in an induced coma in intensive care. She was unable to swallow due to swallowing the acid and left blinded in one eye. She had various skin grafts from her back, bottom and groin as well as surgeons using a pioneering new material to rebuild her face. As well as enduring the medical side, she also had the legal side to deal with, examinations, video interviews and later on the court case itself. Once out of hospital she had to wear a plastic mask and pressure garments 23 hours a day for 2 years and have physio 4 times a day performed by myself and my parents. She had to rebuild her life again and deal with people’s reaction to how she now looked, fortunately she had documented her journey as a form of therapy which Channel 4 later went on to make into a documentary which got 3.5 million viewers and some really positive response. This is when she decided not to be a victim any longer, she would be a survivor… so in 2009 The Katie Piper Foundation was born!
The Katie Piper
Foundation aims are to:
* Improve outcomes for burns survivors
* Deliver – directly or indirectly – intensive, comprehensive burns
rehabilitation (post-acute care discharge) in the UK
* Support burns survivors throughout their journey of recovery
* Progress a deep understanding of the context in which the Foundation acts
(the burns care world) and of the key stakeholders
* Develop key relationships, collaborations associations and partnerships.
They do the above in various ways like holding workshops for other survivors, offering hair treatments, medical tattooing, laser treatments etc etc.
I have seen first-hand the brilliant work the charity does
and know it has helped many people on their journey to recovery, so I ask, no
matter how small, please help me reach my target and donate.
http://www.katiepiperfoundation.org.uk/
Many thanks for reading.
Suzy. x.