Mother’s Day chats
Acid attack survivor Katie Piper reveals how her mum, Diane, helped her find happiness after her horror
She has become an inspiration S to millions after overcoming a devastating acid attack a decade ago and defying the odds to establish herself as a fearless charity campaigner, TV presenter and now a mum of two young daughters. But Katie Piper insists she owes much of her transformation to Mum Diane, who spent years nursing her back from the brink.
“I couldn’t be the person I am today without her,” Katie tells Closer. “As a teenager, I was really difficult and wasn’t that close to my mum, but what happened brought us closer together. Now our bond is unbreakable. I can count on my hands how often I’ve seen her cry and every day I try to emulate her strength.”
PAINFUL PAST
Katie was just 24, and an aspiring model and TV presenter, when her jealous boyfriend Daniel Lynch raped her and then arranged for an accomplice to throw sulphuric acid into her face. The corrosive liquid burned through all four layers of skin and left her partially blinded in one eye and with devastating damage to her face, chest and hands.
Now Katie and mum Diane have co-written a book they describe as a “survival guide for women living in modern society” and a celebration of how their special bond helped them triumph over their darkest hour. From Mother To Daughter, The Things I’d Tell My Child features extracts of a secret diary Diane kept during her daughter’s time in hospital in the wake of the brutal attack. Katie admits reliving her painful past gave her a deeper insight into her mum’s own heartbreak.
“It was shocking and emotional to hear what it was really like for Mum,” says Katie, who has endured over 250 gruelling operations. “Hearing how it broke her for a while made me feel quite guilty about what she had gone through. I’ve written a few books on what happened to me – I’ve had my closure. Hopefully writing this book has helped Mum get hers, too.”
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Diane, 66, admits that witnessing her daughter suffer so much was, at times, unbearable. In one poignant extract, she reveals how Katie – at her lowest ebb in hospital and unable to speak – wrote a note that read “kill me”. Diane says, “Seeing my own child in that amount of pain was allconsuming – I felt so helpless and guilty as a mother that I hadn’t been able to protect her.”
Now she reveals that watching Katie rebuild her life, thriving with a successful career, loving husband and as a devoted mum to Belle, three, and threemonth-old Katie with husband Penelope Richard and four-yearold has helped finally Belle eclipse the pain of the past.
“Life is like it should be now,” says Diane. “Katie is living proof that no problem is insurmountable. My life once revolved around being my daughter’s carer – now I can be a doting grandmother.”
Four years ago, the pair found their roles reversed after Diane was diagnosed with bowel cancer. It was now Katie’s turn to be the pillar of support and she’s been by her mum’s side as she’s undergone chemo and surgery to battle the disease.
“I felt really angry when Mum was diagnosed with cancer,” Katie, 34, reveals. “I thought – why her? She gave up all that time looking after me and should be enjoying herself now. But there are people younger than me with cancer who can’t be treated, so we try to look for the positives in our situation. My mum’s is
treatable and she has responded to chemo. It’s reinforced the need to make the most of the time we have left.”
Diane says she has drawn from Katie’s incredible courage to help deal with her treatment. “The doctors warned me it would be tough, but all I could think was ‘This is nothing compared to what Katie went through.’”
FAMILY TIME
Katie, who married carpenter Richard Sutton in 2015, reveals that having daughters has changed how she views her relationship with her mum. “When I gave birth to Belle, I looked at Mum and said, ‘I’m so sorry, I understand everything now!’ I got all the times she shouted when I was growing up. It comes from unconditional love and protectiveness. That love can get you through anything.”
Life has certainly never been busier for Katie, who admits juggling work and raising a family is “a military operation”. She laughs, “Belle is so sweet with Penelope and loves to help give her a bottle – they are already bonding. After two, you accept sleeping is not part of parenting! There’s no time for date nights for me and Rich, but life is amazing. “I wake up at 5am to feed Penelope, then up again at 7am to get Belle ready and take her to nursery. Sometimes I work from home, sometimes the office – and I try to fit in baby massage or baby yoga classes. It’s varied, but it’s always full-on.”
After the birth of Penelope, Katie announced her “family was now complete”, and when asked about the possibility of another addition any time soon, she laughs, adding a firm, “No!”
She says, “Life is busy, but Mum is my inspiration. After what she has gone through, I feel if she can do it, I can do anything.”
‘A mother’s love can get you through anything’