Katie Piper receives Honorary Doctorate Award of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Katie Piper had received a Honorary Doctorate Award of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to mark her achievements as a healthcare leader.

The activist and presenter, 37, was honoured for her groundbreaking work setting up the Katie Piper Foundation – which supports burns survivors, along with their families and carers.

Katie survived a horrific acid attack orchestrated by her ex-boyfriend in 2008, which caused significant damage to her face and left her blind in one eye.  

The Katie Piper Foundation has opened a rehabilitation centre in the UK – and also reaches out to survivors to provide remote individually tailored programmes of rehabilitation. 

Katie looked resplendent in her blue and scarlet robes as she received her doctorate in a virtual ceremony on Friday, with the star saying she was ‘thrilled’ by the news.   

She wrote on Instagram: ‘Thank you RCSI University of medicine and health sciences it is a honour to be invited to accept my Honorary Doctorate in Science Award @rcsi_irl

‘I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the 2020 students and commend you for your hard work and dedication in what has been a challenging year.  

Inspiration: The activist and presenter, 37, was honoured for her groundbreaking work setting up the Katie Piper Foundation – which supports burns survivors, along with their families and carers

‘I am absolutely thrilled to receive this prestigious recognition and delighted at the value it will add to my charity work.

‘A slightly different graduation day today as we will all be joining via zoom better nether less still as important and special to us all.’  

Professor Cathal Kelly, Chief Executive/Registrar at RCSI said: ‘RCSI’s doctorate recipients could not be more deserving.

‘We are very proud that they, as the most worthy candidates will join our virtual ceremonies, to accept the highest academic award of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences – the Honorary Doctorate in Science.’ 

Katie was honoured alongside Dr Richard Horton and Dr Mary D’Alton.   

As well as her successful and inspirational career, Katie is a devoted mum to two daughters, who she shares with husband Richard Sutton. 

Inspiration: Katie survived a horrific acid attack orchestrated by her ex-boyfriend in 2008, which caused significant damage to her face and left her blind in one eye

Katie recently told how she is lucky to be alive as she faces her 400th operation in 12 years.

The TV personality first entered the public eye in 2008, to raise awareness of her injuries sustained from the horrific acid attack orchestrated by an ex-boyfriend that year. 

And in a new interview, Katie revealed that the multitude of surgeries she’s faced doesn’t phase her as ‘life is a gift that I’m still here’ adding that people in other countries without access to great healthcare are not so lucky.  

Speaking to The Mirror as she nears her 400th time going under the knife, Katie said her ‘heart never sinks’ when told she is to face yet another procedure.

She explained: ‘You can look at it that way, or you can say, it’s extraordinary to be alive, because women who are acid attacked in other countries actually die.  

Grateful: Katie recently told how she is lucky to be alive as she faces her 400th operation in 12 years

They don’t have the NHS, and they don’t have the sophisticated medicine we have here. So I think, my heart would never sink, life is a gift that I’m still here.’

The mum-of-two is currently recovering from her most recent operation last month, in which skin from her left arm was grafted onto her upper eyelid.   

She told how the timing of the coronavirus lockdown worked in her favour when it came to recovery from the eye operation.

She said: ‘I joked with my eye surgeon, “when would be a good time to do it? Because I’m going to be blind when I have it done, because I’ve only got sight in one eye”. But then the pandemic happened and the world’s shut down…so timing wise, it couldn’t have been better.’

Katie was recently forced to hit back at a troll after being branded ‘repulsive and ugly’ by a social media user. 

Speaking about how she deals with criticism, the beauty told the publication that she enters a ‘Nirvana state’ which helps her deal with negativity.

 She added that she feels ‘bad’ for the haters as they must be in an ‘angry place’, going on to add that ‘only hurt people hurt people.’  

The sulfuric acid attack took place back in 2008 and was organised by her obsessive ex-partner, Daniel Lynch, but was carried out by Stefan Sylvestre, 31.

Daniel co-ordinated the pre-planned street assault outside her north London home in Golders Green. 

 Daniel was subsequently given two life terms behind bars, while Stefan served six-years of his own sentence, before initially being released in 2018.

Positive outlook: And in a new interview, Katie revealed that the multitude of surgeries she’s faced doesn’t phase her as ‘life is a gift that I’m still here’ adding that people in other countries without access to great healthcare are not so lucky’