Katie Piper found the internet a vital source of support in the aftermath of her acid attack, helping her to “connect to other burns survivors and share stories”.
Now the 39-year-old is launching a campaign to help and raise awareness for over 1.7 million British households without any internet connection at home, as she revealed in a brand new interview for Express.co.uk.
For Katie, it was being persuaded by an evil boyfriend to leave her flat to go to an internet café and read his email that led to his accomplice throwing a cup of acid into her face, according to her autobiography Beautiful.
Her connection had been malfunctioning that day, whereas she and her two children currently have daily access – and she would like that to be the case for every family in Britain.
“I think anybody that doesn’t have access to the internet would suffer psychologically just out of frustration,” she exclaimed.
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“I grew up in the 80s, so I’ve got memories of using a typewriter and Tippex, but today the internet is an essential in our lives… It’s not a luxury, it’s an essential.
“I mean, I don’t think now you can even make a GP appointment or a dental appointment without data and you can’t park the car without an app and data.”
She added that the internet helps to improve visibility for burns survivors, musing: “I think the internet has played a big part in diversity because what we don’t see frequently can become something people fear or can become a taboo.”
Katie revealed that the campaign she’s working on with Tesco Mobile and the Trussell Trust has been “extremely fulfilling”, seeing her write and launch the world’s first-ever infinite Zoom e-book, Alfie’s Magic Phone.
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“Alfie is the main character, he’s this little boy and he’s from a really deprived background,” Katie revealed.
“They’re facing financial hardship, which is typical of the families that the Trussell Trust supports, and he’s excluded from everything [because he doesn’t have the internet].
“He misses out on football matches that are organised on chats and apps by his friends, he can’t FaceTime his grandparents, he has to stay on at school and do all his homework in the library because he’s not connected at home and then he gets transported into this magic world called Dataville and suddenly his world opens up.”
She added that Tesco Mobile is now setting up a Little Helps Data Bank, which will be available at Trussell Trust food banks up and down the country so that the public can “go in and get preloaded SIM cards with data on them”.
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Meanwhile, on a more light-hearted note, it seems that Katie’s internet connection has been helping her keep up with the latest on shows like Strictly Come Dancing.
Back in 2018, she was a contestant on the show herself – and now she’s rooting for her dance partner Gorka Marquez behind the scenes.
“We love Strictly in our house… We love all the glam, the sequins. I’m always supporting Gorka because he was my partner when I was in the show, so yeah, really great to see him dancing again,” Katie enthused.
Reminiscing on the “family” atmosphere she experienced when she took part, she added that it was never easy to watch an elimination.
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