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Katie Maloney's Details About the Near-Death Accident That Changed Her Life
The Vanderpump Rules cast member on the night that left her with a brain injury and a new outlook on life.
On Vanderpump Rules, Katie Maloney has previously opened about a near-death experience that forever changed her life.
In 2009, Katie fell 25 feet through a skylight and ended up with a broken jaw, broken collarbone, multiple broken ribs, and a brain injury.
Katie wasn’t just physically hurt, though. On the Season 6 reunion — which aired in May 2018 — she revealed that she also struggled with her mental health as a result of the accident: “I ignored it and I didn’t want to talk about it to people. I didn’t want to talk about the depression.”
Still, Katie has since said that the accident changed her positive ways as well. “When you cheat death, you can’t help but look at things differently,” she said in Season 6.
Here’s what else Katie has said about the terrible accident and her injuries.
How did Katie Maloney fall through a skylight?
Katie appeared on an episode of The Doctors after the Season 6 reunion aired and gave a more detailed account of exactly what happened the night she fell 25 feet through a skylight.
She revealed that the incident took place after she and some friends took a bottle of wine up to the roof to take some pictures, and admitted she was already feeling buzzed before they changed locations.
"We sit down on this massive skylight and we're taking some selfies, and then I felt it sort of dip in a little bit. Seconds later, it broke," she recalled about the accident. (Katie's friend also plunged through the hole and hit a staircase and the handrail.)
The fall left Katie with a broken jaw, broken collarbone, multiple broken ribs, lost teeth, and a brain injury. As a result, she had to have her jaw wired shut while she healed.
According to Katie, however, the physical injuries have been easier to recover from than the mental injuries. "Up here [in my head] has been harder to heal. I was so happy and grateful that I survived with just minor injuries," she said. "Even though it was scary at times, life is really awesome and really short. So tell the people in your life that you love them, do what makes you happy. Live a full and complete life."
How did Katie Maloney get the scar on her chin?
In Season 6, Episode 9, Katie had revealed that the scar on her chin is also the result of the skylight accident.
“As part of it, I have this scar on my face,” Katie explained. “I had to go see a plastic surgeon and, you know, remove the scar. But erasing that would have erased this pretty monumental moment of my life. So I think, you know, I like my scar. I think it gives me character and it’s also a badge of honor in some ways… I went through something crazy but I’m still here.”
In a behind-the-scenes video from Season 6, Katie said that she'd recently gotten a Botox injection to help deal with an area of under-skin scarring in her chin.
"I had this dimple in my chin from scar tissue from when I had my accident, and it would just dimple in strange ways," she said. "But I just got a little Botox and then that helped."
Katie Maloney says her accident changed her outlook on life
In a 2018 interview with Decider, Katie reflected further on the incident.
"I felt it change me,” she said. “And it changed me in a lot of positive ways, but also there were some other parts I couldn’t quite get my head around and I just didn’t feel like myself for a long time. It was hard working through that on my own, maintaining a positive body image, a healthy body image in my mind. But I’m happier today, so that’s all that matters."
Today, Katie considers November 9 — the day of her accident — her “re-birthday.”
Originally published May 23, 2018.
