Acid attack model tells of ordeal

Mon Oct 19 2009 20:37:46

A model and aspiring TV presenter who survived an acid attack has spoken of her ordeal.

Katie Piper was left fighting for her life after Daniel Lynch raped her and then arranged for another man to throw sulphuric acid in her face.

The acid burned through all four layers of skin on her face and some spilled down her throat, damaging it so badly that she needs to be fed through a tube into her stomach.

She was left blind in one eye and has undergone more than 30 operations on her face and throat.

Surgeons led by Mohammad Jawad at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital carried out a pioneering procedure to rebuild her face, the first operation of its kind to be done in one go.

The 26-year-old's recovery will feature in a Channel 4 documentary later this month, and she has waived her right to anonymity over the sexual assault. Lynch and his accomplice Stefan Sylvestre were both jailed for life over the attack.

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.