Loose Women star Katie Piper has thanked the surgical team that carried out an emergency operation on her eye.
She told her followers on Instagram that her husband, Richard James Sutton, noticed a black spot in her eye over the weekend and said it became "extremely painful". Sharing photos of herself with a bandaged eye, the 38-year-old wrote on Tuesday: "Emergency Operation for me! 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."
She said she was "used to being in some level of discomfort" and so headed off to work as usual. Things however changed and "by Sunday night I felt nausea and in extreme pain," Katie said. She then got in touch with her eye specialist who confirmed the black circle was a hole her eye and that the eye had perforated.
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"This had always been a fear that it would happen," the mum-of-two said. "Yesterday [Monday] @sherazdaya sourced tissue for me and operated on me. I cannot thank him and his team enough, their knowledge and expertise but also how kind and caring they all are."
Katie ended her post by saying: "There maybe some evil people in this world but there are also some pretty incredible people doing amazing things for people on a daily basis. Huge thank you team @sherazdaya @centreforsightuk You are the best!"
She was soon flooded with messages from her celebrity pals, reports Manchester Evening News. Strictly Come Dancing star Gorka Marquez said: "Sending you all the love." Singer and theatre star Alexandra Burke added: "Sending you love darling and positive healing energy." This Morning cook Juliet Sear wrote: "Sending you lots of love and healing vibes."
Katie's post came after she appeared on ITV show Loose Women on Tuesday. During the show, Katie told her "Life Before Loose" story, recalling her happy childhood growing up in Hampshire, her teenage rebellious years and the moment that simultaneously changed her life and found her purpose at 24 years old.
Talking to panellists Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan and Janet Street-Porter, Katie said she had a "great" childhood and later studied a college hair and beauty course. She said: "I wasn’t really academic. It wasn’t because I wasn’t bright, I just wasn’t interested… I was more interested in going out and boyfriends."
She worked evenings and weekends in Tesco as a “checkout chick” before going behind the shop floor and onto the tannoy. Her earnings funded her train fare and her college kit. She commented: "I worked hard and learnt the value of money… my parents were pleased I was in college and working."
After college, Katie worked in a private health club as a beautician. “I used to massage Dr Hilary, he was one of my clients!” she smiled. But at the age 24, Katie’s life changed when a corrosive substance was thrown over her. Reflecting on that period, Katie said: "When I look back on it and reflect, it does feel like two separate lives. I’m 38, but I sort of feel in my 70s or 80s because what’s happened to me, condensed in such a short period doesn’t happen to some people in their whole lifetime."
Katie, who recently received an OBE, also opened up about how Simon Cowell helped her in her journey to set up the Katie Piper Foundation, where she mentors burns survivors.
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