Katie Piper rushed to hospital for emergency treatment as she struggles to swallow
Katie Piper has revealed she was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment after she found herself choking on her own saliva.
The 37-year-old Loose Women presenter – who suffered severe burns in an acid attack by an ex-boyfriend in 2008 – has scar tissue in her oesophagus, and this triggered spasms in her throat that made her unable to swallow.
Piper told her 1m Instagram followers: "Last night I choked on some food which led to spasms in my oesophagus, which meant it closed up, meaning I couldn’t swallow even my own saliva and ended up in A&E for an emergency procedure on my oesophagus (not the way to start a week)."
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The model and mental health campaigner – who has two daughters aged three and seven with carpenter husband Richard Sutton – said she had undergone surgery and was feeling much better.
She added: "I’ve got a long history of treatment with my oesophagus, I’ve got three strictures of tight scar tissue from what happened previously and this is something I’ve been aware of but hasn’t happened in years. But, out of surgery and it went very well and I just ate ice cream which felt heavenly! Huge thank you to the NHS doctors and nurses that did she an incredible job and were so attentive. Now for a restful day."
Piper – who is a body positivity campaigner – has been having ongoing reconstructive surgery to the scars on her face, arms and upper body that resulted from the acid attack.
She shared recently: "It’s been such a process for me to love my skin, to accept that my scars are part of that journey and to love them as much as I did my skin, before what happened to me...
"I used to be extremely self-conscious of them but now I show them off with pride, as they are me and I am them, just enjoying the ride one day at a time."
In September she updated fans on laser and blood plasma treatment she had been having to treat her skin texture and discolouration as a result of the scars.
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And in July last year she had skin graft surgery to her eyelid.
She said afterwards: "It was a relief to have the surgery as my eye was getting infected a lot and getting sore.”
Watch: Katie Piper attends the NTAs
