Katie Piper says she’s ‘making the best of life’ as she tries to stay positive after surgery to ‘avoid losing her eye’

Katie Piper said she is ‘making the best of life’ and trying to stay positive after her latest surgery to ‘avoid losing her eye’.

The 40-year-old presenter appeared on Loose Women for the first time since her operation on Thursday and said she would not waste her life ‘in some kind of woe I am’.

Katie suffered serious injuries and blindness in one eye after she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch and accomplice Stefan Sylvestre in 2008 at the age of 24.

Katie and fellow panellists – Kaye Adams, Denise Welch and Jane Moore – praised Fiona Phillips, who recently said she refuses to let Alzheimer’s disease define her and is determined to live her best life.

She said: ‘I really admire what she’s done and I think positivity comes from acceptance and I think in all of our lives there are certain things that are just set in stone and that we can’t change.

“For myself, I have things that are permanent and I have always taken this approach: I will make the best of it, whatever it is… say this is my destiny and maybe I still have more than others.”

When asked when acceptance came to her, Katie said, “I think my life changed at a very young age and I thought, ‘Well, I’m still alive, so I’ve got a long time ahead of me.’ I’m not really going to waste it in a contraction situation.”

‘I think Fiona might have the same approach to life, because when life changes dramatically you see the fragility of life and the suddenness of how everything can suddenly be turned upside down.

‘But I don’t want to take away from what Fiona is going through because it must be very frightening and it must be admirable. I doubt that every day is positive and that is very normal.’

Katie looked sensational on the day’s show as she donned a black and white dress which showed off her stunning figure.

Her appearance on the show, her first since her surgery, comes after the star revealed she suffered an eye infection after undergoing surgery to reduce the risk of ‘losing her left eye’.

She gave her followers a health update after spending a morning at the eye clinic on December 5.

In a candid video shared to Instagram, Katie said: ‘I spent the morning at the eye clinic because I’m having problems with my eye. I have an abnormality and an infection that is very difficult to treat.’

Gushing over her husband, Richard James Sutton, Katie added: ‘I have to give a shout out to my lovely husband, he’s always there for me, always driving. He spent a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms and in many parking lots waiting for me.”

It comes after Katie shared a series of photos showing her eye after the procedure, as she admitted she still finds surgery ‘mentally tough’ after her acid attack.

She has since campaigned tirelessly to keep the issue of such attacks at the forefront of the public’s and officials’ minds since her horrific experience, and has since set up the Katie Piper Foundation.

In her post, Katie explained that she had developed tarsorrhaphy in her left eye, which “can help the cornea heal or protect the cornea during a short period of exposure or illness.”

Katie posted a lengthy caption, adding that she hoped the surgery would “save her eye,” and that the decision to have the surgery was based on “function over aesthetics.”

Katie wrote: ‘This is me! (For now). On Tuesday I had a planned operation, a tarsorrhaphy on my left eye.

‘Tarsorrhaphy is the joining of part or all of the upper and lower eyelids to close all or part of the eye.

‘Temporary tarsorrhaphys are used to help the cornea heal or to protect the cornea during a short period of exposure or illness. I also had surgery on my right eye for scar tissue, so that will also be somewhat swollen.

‘I wanted to post this here for a few reasons:

‘First, to learn that living with the kind of injuries I have means that things will change throughout your life and sometimes things will deteriorate. There isn’t really an end point and part of this kind of recovery is accepting it.

“Second, surgical decisions for a deformity should be based on function and not aesthetics. In my case I am trying to preserve the eye, avoid perforation and losing my eye completely.

‘The fact that something is permanently visible does not give people the right to constantly comment on your appearance; you never know what’s going to happen in someone’s life.

‘Even if this helps someone else…. Yes, I find it difficult sometimes. I’m okay with looking different from everyone else, but surgeries can sometimes take me back to memories of how this all started and that’s mentally difficult.

“I always think I’m incredibly lucky to have this space here on IG. I feel like I have an intelligent, interesting and friendly following.

‘So I know most of you will find this update helpful and have probably had your own similar journey of medical or mental recovery, but for the few who send messages or leave negative comments (I’ve heard them all before, nothing new) then this explanation/training is for you.

‘I’m still the same person. I’ve just had a different path in life than most and that’s okay. For the most part, I live a fulfilling, privileged and very happy life. I am extremely grateful for that. But while I recover, I ask that you please don’t troll me.

‘Thank you to my eye surgeon, Mr. Joshi, for taking care of my eyelids all these years. I am so grateful to him and his team for their care, compassion and skill.”

Katie’s ex Daniel was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 16 years for the violence inflicted on Katie when she was just 24 years old.

In September it emerged that Daniel could be released from prison after completing his minimum term of sixteen years.

Daniel was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 16 years after being convicted of rape, GBH and ABH at Wood Green Crown Court in 2009.

His co-conspirator, Stefan, who threw the acid at Katie, admitted GBH and was given a life sentence with a minimum term of six years.

He was released in 2018 but was recalled to prison for breaching his license conditions. Police have since said they believe he has fled the country.