Inspired by a cancer patient

Jane Elliott
BBC News Online health staff

Laura with sons Ben and Toby

Eleven years ago Laura Tenison was badly injured in a head-on road smash in France.

Both her legs were broken and one foot shattered, six of her ribs were crushed, her cheek and jaw were smashed and she lost half her teeth.

She was flown back to the UK by air ambulance for specialist hospital care.

The process of recovering from her appalling injuries was a slow and gruelling one.

But a chance meeting during her long rehabilitation was to change her life forever.

Because the orthopaedic ward had no beds, Laura was transferred to the cancer ward and it was here she met her inspiration - a terminally ill young mother.

Dream

The woman was only 32, and too ill to leave hospital, yet she desperately wanted to buy some pretty clothes for her little girls.

Her bravery inspired my ideas for my business

Laura Tenison

"She told me how upset she was that she couldn't buy clothes for her children because she was bed-bound and had been for months." Laura told BBC News Online.

"Her bravery inspired my ideas for my business."

Laura hit upon a solution to the problem - a mail order maternity and children's clothing company.

As soon as she could, she set about turning concept into reality, and established a business. She called it JoJo Maman Bebe.

In the early days Laura had to struggle with her own ill-health.

Her injuries meant that she was bed-bound for weeks.

But she used the time to plan her new future - and to plot an early release from hospital.

"I started realising that the people around me were very sick and although I had broken bones I was not dying.

"And as I got much better, I felt an incredible burden on the nurses. I was getting better, but I was in traction and I could not do anything.

"When I did get out of hospital, I was in a wheelchair. I had to go to the office in a taxi and I had to go up the spiral staircase to my office on my bottom.

"When I got my crutches I had more freedom though.

"But it shows that if you are determined enough with life, an accident like this is just another obstacle to come across."

Success

Thanks to her determination and drive, Laura's bright idea is now a thriving company.

Turnover in the first year was £30,000, but last year it had soared to £8.5m.

Thousands of mothers and mother-to-be place orders with the company.

And, echoing the original inspiration, some of the company's orders come from terminally ill parents wanting to provide for their children's future.

"It is a very sad state of affairs, but if you know you are dying you want to prepare things for you children," said Laura.

"We had one person who was buying both clothes and presents for her children for every birthday for the five years after they died.

"It is something that we have come across several times.

"Mail order catalogues give bed-bound people the choice to get their own things."

Ordering by catalogue also makes life easier for mothers with disabled children or those with behavioural problems.

And operators at the JoJo Maman Bebe are trained to deal with unusual requests.

She said they sometimes get calls from parents wanting to know the size of the neck of a garment and whether it would fit over a surgical collar.

Gill Oliver, director of service development at Macmillan Cancer Relief said mail order companies could really prove beneficial to those spending long periods in hospital.

"Many people undergoing treatment for cancer or those who are nearing the end of their life may be unable to get out to shops.

"For them, mail order services can be a really useful way of helping them to continue with choosing their children's clothes for example, and keeping in touch with daily lives.

To receive a free JoJo Maman Bebe catalogue call 0870 241 0451 or log on to www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk