Piping `request` response to server response in MySQL callback not working as expected? nodejs

I'm having a frustrating time trying to understand as to why the code I have provided below is not working as I expected it to. The basic concepts is:

Browser -> Nodejs Server -> MySQL Callback -> Request -> Server Response.

Would someone be able to explain as to why the following code works as expected.

// Load modules
var http        = require('http');
var https       = require('https');
var httpProxy   = require('http-proxy'); 
var url         = require('url');
var qstr        = require('querystring');
var path        = require('path');
var requester   = require('request');

var server = httpProxy.createServer(function(request, response) { 

    proxy = requester({
      url: 'http://www.srcnix.com',
      method: 'GET'
    });      

    request.pipe(proxy);
    proxy.pipe(response);

});

server.listen(8080);

However, the moment I place the request and pipe within a callback, whether that's in a MySQL query callback (as follows) or in another request callback, it fails to pipe the response to the server.

// Load modules
var http        = require('http');
var https       = require('https');
var httpProxy   = require('http-proxy'); 
var url         = require('url');
var qstr        = require('querystring');
var path        = require('path');
var requester   = require('request');

var globalConf  = require('./config/global.js');

var mysql       = require('mysql');
var connection  = mysql.createConnection({
  host:     globalConf.db.portal.host,
  user:     globalConf.db.portal.username,
  password: globalConf.db.portal.password,
  database: globalConf.db.portal.database
});

var server = httpProxy.createServer(function(request, response) { 
  connection.query('SELECT 1', function(err, rows) {        
    if(rows.length) 
    {
      proxy = requester({
        url: 'http://www.srcnix.com',
        method: 'GET'
      });      

      // PIPE FAILS TO WORK!                
      request.pipe(proxy);
      proxy.pipe(response);
    }
  });      
});

server.listen(8080);

Your thoughts and knowledge are most welcome and thank you in advance.