Katie Piper shares heartbreaking acid attack photo on World Mental Health Day
Katie Piper has shared a devastating photo of her acid attack injuries in honour of World Mental Health Day.
The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant was left blind in one eye and with severe burns on her face and neck after her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch hired a man to brutally assault her in March 2008.
Alongside the heartbreaking, previously unseen image, the mother-of-two wrote on Instagram: “I remember when I didn’t want to look at anyone. I remember when I didn’t want anyone to look at me. I remember when I was scared of people, scared of men.
Read more: Katie Piper shares details of recent eye surgery as she posts recovery pic on Instagram
“I remember when I was scared of the world. I remember when opening up to people and talking about my trauma and psychological damage just wasn’t possibly [sic].”
The 35-year-old went on to note that her first meeting of the day was with her therapist, encouraging any of her followers that may be struggling to talk about their anxieties because it “still helps.”
“Hold On Pain Ends,” she finished poignantly, before tagging the official campaign’s Instagram account.
Since it was uploaded three hours ago, the post has been like over 75,000 times and received several messages of support from fans and other famous faces.
Author Matt Haig replied with three heart emojis, while The Only Way is Essex star Maria Fowler wrote: “Oh babe. So sad to see you like that. You’re an inspiration to so many people. So much respect xxx”
Documentary maker Stacey Dooley called Piper her “hero,” as celebrity makeup artist Anna Lingis-Zavros gushed: “You truly are so strong and so inspiring.”
Prior to sharing the heartbreaking image, Piper took to both of her social media profiles to post a snapshot of a London Underground noticeboard which featured quotes from her affirmation book Start Your Day With Katie.
“Keep talking, sharing & eliminating shame so that accessing help can become more normalised in turn saving lives,” she added.