Where did this range name come from, well my inspiration of course?
Jamie is my daughter who had a stroke when she was nine years old to remove a brain tumour.
This product was invented by me because Jamie was unable to put a bra on by herself. She is in remission and is now 19. Nothing else comes near to her being able to dress with independence.
In 2009 Jamie-Lee my youngest daughter was diagnosed with a major brain tumour at the age of 9. To be specific it was called an Ogliodendra Glioma. The survival rate of this tumour in children is 23%. 1% of children are diagnosed each year with brain tumours and 1% of 1% are diagnosed with the tumour that Jamie Lee was diagnosed with. The choices were to remove the tumour or die. Whilst in surgery for the removal of as much tumour as possible Jamie Lee suffered a deep brain stroke. Leaving her with a deficit down her left-hand side. In simple terms, Jamie-Lee no longer had the ability to use her left hand and had to learn how to walk again. Both her eyes were damaged and she is now partially blind in 50% of each eye. (The left-hand side.) Over the next few years, she underwent treatment of Chemo and radiotherapy which was successful. Jamie-Lee proceeded to grow and is now 16 at the time that this is written. Life moved forward.
As Jamie-Lee grew she had more need for more adult things. i.e. a Bra. It was a struggle for her to put on a T-shirt bra and I searched for something better.
One day at a Bra party I looked through a catalogue and realized there is nothing better for her out there. This made me want to search further for an alternative. Thinking “surely something is out there, I'm just not finding it”.
I started to search online for a product for her to address the issue that she really only has one functioning hand. I found an application for a Bra by Amy Jean Liguori Bra fastener
US 20130065483 A1. This was a great product however it did not solve the issue for Jamie Lee. I messaged Amy on Facebook requesting if she had been able to have this product made anywhere. I thought at least if I purchase it and customise it, Jamie would have something to wear. Amy responded to my facebook message explaining that she had been unable to get the patent through and was herself a stroke victim, which had inspired her to develop this patent idea. She too had realised the limitations to the current bra configuration. She wished me well and provided her phone number in New York should we want to keep in touch. Prior to Amy’s stroke, she was a designer for the lingerie industry based in New York. This was so touching to identify with someone so very far away from Australia.
That across the globe women were having the same issue. This inspired me to create my own patent to address this need. To enable women to dress themselves with dignity. Over the next 12 months my every waking moment was taken up with creating something functional and marketable. Without creating this product no one would be better off than they currently are at the moment. This was the start of my journey to create BraEasy.
Leave a comment