Katie Piper explained how she was left in 'intolerable' pain as she returned to Loose Women for the first time since undergoing emergency surgery on her eye.
Former Strictly contestant Katie has been a member of the panel of the ITV show for a number of years now but, while seen on pre-recorded episodes of Loose Women which have aired over the last few weeks, she has been absent from the studio, having taken time to recover from the surgery.
Katie first broke news of her health issue on social media, taking to Twitter to post: "On Saturday my husband noticed a small black circle in my blind eye, I was excited thinking I had a pupil again, but by Sunday my left eye was extremely painful and couldn’t tolerate light, so I patched it up and put it down to old injuries.
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"I’m used to being in some level of discomfort and I went to work. By Sunday night I felt nausea and in extreme pain."
Katie, who was the victim of a horrific acid attack 15 years ago which caused her life changing injuries, added that as the pain became unbearable she sight medical eye and was told that the black circle was actually a hole in her eye and the eye had perforated, meaning an emergency cornea transplant was required.
She was quizzed on what happened by Loose Women host Jane Moore at the start of Thursday's show, when, describing the pain she felt, she said: "It was just all consuming, where you feel it all over your skull and stuff and you can't tolerate light and things."
Katie admitted the hole in her eye as something she "always feared would happen," due to her having a very thin surface in her blind eye as a result of the acid attack.
She explained that her surgeon had to contact 'eye banks' to get a cornea that was suitable for her, saying: "I think for a lot of people, donating eyes is something that is very personal and for religious and spiritual reasons, some people don't want to do that, which is totally understandable, but they are very much needed for people like me."
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