Katie Piper 'felt pain of the mothers I met so deeply' on life-changing trip to Ghana

A stifling blanket of shame often smothers the families of children born with a cleft lip or palate in developing countries, with people even believing it’s a curse. Mum of two Katie Piper, 42, was moved to tears when she met children and families with cleft palates when visiting Kumasi in Ghana, as an ambassador for the Smile Train charity. Left with alarming scars after an acid attack in March 2008, with her deep understanding of facial difference, Katie says: “I was told stories about children who were suffocated or drowned at birth, and of mothers told they’re ‘cursed’ because of an assumption that the cleft was a result of something they did wrong in pregnancy.” The world's largest cleft-focused organisation, Smile Train empowers local medical professionals in more than 75 countries to provide free, safe, and high-quality cleft lip and palate surgery and to provide children with comprehensive care. Made an OBE in 2022 for her charitable work, speaking ahead of World Cleft Awareness Day on July 20, Katie recalls meeting five-month-old baby, Richlove Amoateng and her mum. Before being contacted by Smile Train, she hadn’t taken the baby out of the house. Katie says: “Richlove lived in a rural village two hours outside Kumasi and was the second cleft child the mum had. When people came over, they’d put a cloth over her face. It wasn't for lack of love for the child, but because her mum was being stigmatised by the community for having a cleft baby.” A cleft lip is a gap or split in the upper lip, often accompanied by cleft palate, present from birth, as part of the baby's face did not join together properly in the womb. It affects around one in 700 babies born annually worldwide. Why it happens remains unclear. It’s unlikely to be caused by anything that took place during the pregnancy, but it can be genetic. Here, the NHS offers early treatment and support. But in many less developed countries there is a very long wait for care - or no care at all. As well as altering appearance, without surgery, children with the condition may struggle to eat, breathe and speak. In developing countries like Ghana, a lack of awareness can mean shame is attached to cleft children. Katie says: “Some babies, like Richlove, are hidden away. It’s heartbreaking.” Married to husband Richard since 2015, Katie - mum to Belle, 12, and Penelope, 8 - a regular on ITV’s Loose Women, says: “As a mum, I felt the pain of the mothers I met so deeply.” Of the cleft babies, she adds: “A cleft means a baby can’t latch properly, which can lead to malnutrition.” Babies born with cleft also experience difficulty with hearing, dental matters and speech. Able to identify with their plight, Katie was 24 when a man she’d been dating had an accomplice throw sulphuric acid in her face. She says: “The attack left me partially blinded, with severe, permanent scarring to my face, chest, neck, arm and hands. I couldn’t recognise myself when I woke up from a coma and I wanted to commit suicide. I also swallowed some of the acid in the attack, damaging my throat, and still require ongoing surgery on my throat to help me swallow and prevent scars closing it entirely.” Starting the Katie Piper Foundation in 2009, supporting adult survivors of burns and those living with severe trauma scarring, with both their physical and mental health, she continues:“I’ve experienced stigma myself. People stare, although being famous means that a lot of people know me, so when they see me for the first time it’s not a shock - and that is quite helpful. “In Ghana, however, there was a huge blanket of shame for those with visible differences. The whole family is sometimes ostracised.” But while burns can be hard to live with years after the event, she says: “With clefts, a single operation leaves a tiny scar. Then people can live a normal life.” The family of one child she met is determined to change perceptions regarding clefts. Katie says: “Eunice Obeng Yeboah is five and was born with cleft. “Her father was a pastor who provided cleft counselling to the community. Often people would go to their religious leaders for spiritual guidance before a doctor. Some then say that prayer is sufficient, when of course it is not. “But Eunice’s father took her for surgery, never hid her, and went to his congregation to say, ‘I have a cleft child - this isn’t anything from Satan or a curse. My wife hasn’t done anything wrong, it’s a genetic thing’. “By being so vocal, people came out to say they’d had a cleft child too, and had been hiding them. That was incredibly moving, powerful. It highlighted how important awareness is.” After surgery, a tiny scar on Eunice’s face was all that remained. Katie says: “She was healthy, happy, and doing well at school. A real success story.” Estimated to have had more than 400 operations after her own attack, Katie continues: “I feel lucky to be alive. Burn care is an ongoing process and one that will continue my whole life. But if this had happened in many other places in the world, I wouldn’t have survived.” Katie feels global healthcare is a postcode lottery, continuing: “It’s just luck where you're born and what services you have access to. One thing that I, politically, feel very strongly about is protecting the NHS. It’s so important that we don't privatise it. Everyone should have equal access to healthcare. “When I set up my charity, Gordon Brown was the Prime Minister and he put a lot of money into burns units, which was really positive.” Katie, whose new book, Still Beautiful, has recently been released, continues: “What happened to me was a painful experience, but through pain you find resilience. It’s not important what you look like, what car you drive, what watch you wear. I tell that to my daughters all the time. “Whatever life throws at me, I am able to overcome it. I had a life changing incident in my 20s, but my pain has taught me a lot. To my eldest, I always say, ‘when things are bad just sit tight, you might not see it straight away but there might be meaning behind it, be patient.’ And, especially after meeting cleft children and their families in Ghana, she has a message for Keir Starmer’s successor. Katie says: “Something can happen at any point in our lives, whether it's to us, or our child. “Life is unpredictable, and what the NHS does is provide a safety net, a blanket, a hug to be there for us when we need it. “I feel passionate that it's a human right and to see th NHS abolished would be catastrophic. I was working in America last year, making a documentary, and I had to go get a check up on my eyes - I didn't qualify for the insurance so there was a huge cost and a mountain of paperwork.” After her own experience and seeing first hand the trials and tribulations of the families she met in Ghana, she says: “All we have to moan about here in the UK is the queue.” *For more information on Smile Train visit https://www.smiletrain.org.uk/