What an inspiration: Katie Piper shows just how far she has come as she wows in chocolate one-shoulder dress at TV Choice Awards



In 2008 her world was shattered and she was left with severe facial disfigurement following a violent acid attack arranged by her ex-boyfriend.



But Katie Piper demonstrated just how far she has come over the past three years - and after more than 80 operations - as she stepped out at the TV Choice Awards last night.



The 27-year-old, who now runs her own charity to help people living with disfigurement, looked stunning as she arrived at the Savoy hotel amongst a whole host of TV personalities.



Inspirational: Katie Piper wowed at TV Choice Awards last night in a chocolate asymmetrical satin dress

Katie had donned a one shoulder chocolate brown satin dress with shimmering heels for the occasion.



And it seems that after numerous procedures Katie has made remarkable progress since she first appeared on TV in Katie: My Beautiful Face, a documentary about the acid attack and the way it had affected her life.

Katie, who was 24 and working as a model, suffered third-degree burns, losing her eyelids, half her left ear and most of her nose .

Her eyes, mouth, tongue, oesophagus, arms, hands, neck and cleavage were also badly burned and the injuries were the worst her medical team had ever seen.

Her ex-boyfriend Danny Lynch, 35, was jailed for life over the attack.

The damage done to her oesophagus meant she had to be fed through a tube in her stomach, and she has had more than 30 procedures to clear blockages and remove scar tissue so that she can eat and drink.

Stellar success: Katie's foundation is enjoying great success and the 27-year-old has big ideas for the future including more TV work and a make-up range



Work to reconstruct Miss Piper’s face started a week after the attack, with a process called debridement – removing the damaged or dead tissue and preserving what was healthy.



In a six-hour operation, layers of dead and damaged tissue were shaved off, and then strips of tissue harvested from donors were stapled to her face as a natural dressing.



Her surgeons then used a synthetic skin substitute called Matriderm, made of collagen and elastin, and in the first operation of its kind, layered it on to Miss Piper’s face to rebuild its foundations and give it shape.



It was crucial that the results of the surgery were allowed to settle, so Miss Piper was put into an induced coma for 12 days.



Dramatic change: Katie has come so far on the road to recover and undergone several operations and procedure to improve function in her face since the acid attack in 2008, right seen in 2009 part way through her treatment

When she was woken, she began six weeks of intensive scar-management, which involved daily massage of the injured areas and use of silicon gel and moisturising creams.



Massage and physiotherapy helped strengthen her limbs, weakened by the time spent in a hospital bed.



After being discharged from hospital in May 2008, Miss Piper had to wear pressure garments 24 hours a day over her burns, including a balaclava-style mask to try to even out scar tissue.



After a year she began wearing a clear plastic mask by day.



She also spent time at a specialist burns rehabilitation unit, Centre Ster in France, where she had deep-tissue massage treatments and hydrotherapy to reduce the vivid red scarring.



The results of her medical team’s efforts were clear on Tuesday night.



Katie suffered third-degree burns, losing most of her nose, her eyelids and half her left ear. Her eyes, mouth, tongue, oesophagus, arms, hands, neck and cleavage were burned. Seen left in 2009 and right, before the attack



And given the success of The Katie Piper Foundation - set up to help people living with disfigurement - she has plenty of reason to look so proud.

Last week at the Prima Awards Katie told MailOnline ‘I'm so happy with how the foundation is going and last week was so great with Simon (Cowell) coming, and we raised so much money.’



She also spoke about upcoming plans and said: ‘I've just signed a two year deal with Channel Four and I'm looking at launching my own beauty range now for camouflage make-up.’

But Katie doesn’t take full credit for her achievements and was extremely humble about her work.

She said: ‘It's not just me, I have such a great team around me, and we have so many great members of staff and amazing volunteers who give up their time to support the foundation. I’m so lucky to have such a great network of family and friends.’

While launching the charity Katie also filmed a documentary Katie: My Beautiful Friends and she says she keeps in regular contact with the ambassadors featured on the show.



She said: ‘We are great friends we are all really busy but keep in touch on Twitter and through texts and I get to see them every few months.’