Speaking to Mirror Online, Katie Piper has opened up about the inspiration behind her World Mental Health Day post. She defended her post that was censored by Instagram.
Last month, the 36-year-old shared a few heart-wrenching images of her injuries that were taken weeks after an acid attack in March 2008. At the request of her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch, Stefen Sylvestre threw acid on Katie’s face, causing severe damage to her face, which left her blind in one eye.
Katie shared some of her unseen pictures on her Instagram account to show how far she has come after the attack on the World Mental Health Day. However, her pictures were censored by the social networking site, giving her a sensitivity warning, to which Katie has defended.
She said, “Of course you have to think about what you post on social media on any day and in any situation. But for me, I don’t want to just post happy photos and put out: ‘I’m strong and you can be strong too’ because sometimes that’s patronizing and not helpful.”
“So what I was trying to show is that all journeys start off feeling impossible,” she continued, “Positive people don’t wake up feeling happy every day. I just wanted to give hope to people that are in those very early stages that you can make progression.”
Katie was one of the guests at Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards 2019 after she won a special recognition accolade at the 2012 ceremony for her dedication towards her foundation.
She said, “There were some really hard-hitting stories but all the winners are amazing. For me, the night is about supporting like-minded people and giving them a platform. I’ve seen with my own story that when you get a platform you can do great things with it on a wide scale as well as on a personal scale.”
“It’s important that these things never die out,” she added.
Currently, Katie is trying to encourage schoolchildren to take up reading by supporting the Sainsburys reading bus initiative. Responding to the 2018 report that found a steady decline in child literacy, Katie said, “I found the stats quite shocking. For me as an adult, reading and writing have provided escapism, stimulated my imagination and even provided a way for me to earn a living.”
