Katie recovering after acid attack

Katie Piper has recovered some of her sight after receiving pioneering surgery

Published: 6:32pm, 6th February 2012
Updated: 3:13am, 7th February 2012

Katie Piper, the TV presenter and charity campaigner who had acid thrown in her face in 2008, has regained some of her sight after receiving pioneering surgery.

The 28-year-old, is now able to identify shapes and colours, having described her sight prior to the operation as "like being underwater and looking up at the surface".

A Channel 4 documentary, to be broadcast on Tuesday night, follows Piper as she researches the procedure, including its impacts and side effects, and films her as she undergoes the surgery as well as her subsequent recovery.

Piper said: "I can see silhouettes, I can judge depth, I can see movement, I can see shapes - if someone holds their hand up I can see how many fingers they are holding up. I would say the most significant thing about restoring my sight is I can be more independent if I have operations on my good eye."

Piper, who runs The Katie Piper Foundation, a charity that helps people live with scars and burns, said that the surgery has totally destroyed any abnormal cells, and the donor cells have stimulated her remaining cells to multiply.

Piper's left eye was badly injured four years ago as she turned her face away when acid was thrown at her.

She said: "Of all my injuries, it's the damage to my left eye that has the most impact. The hardest part is not being able to see anything on one side. In crowded places it leaves me feeling scared and vulnerable.

"Visually, someone wouldn't think it's the last permanent injury I have. But in my eyes it is because my scars aren't marks of my attack, my scars to me are character, they're me, I'm proud of them.

"I choose how I wear them. They don't define me in a bad way. But with the eye it's an obstruction that holds me back. When somebody has tried to control you it's good to take that control back."

Katie: The Science Of Seeing Again will be broadcast on Channel 4 tomorrow at 9pm.