MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Designer Jo Tutchener-Sharp
JO tutchener-SharP, 40, was a fashion and beauty Pr before launching children’s clothing and interiors line Scamp & Dude. She lives in London with husband rob and their sons, Sonny and Jude. IF THIS time last year, someone had said to me ‘You will nearly die of a brain h aemorrhage’, I w ouldn’t h ave believed I c ould c ope.
A busy working mother of two c hildren, aged three and one, I first went to my GP after a spasm in my face. I told him I felt as though my head was about to explode, and he said: ‘ You a re d angerously s tressed.’
One evening, my right eye would barely open. The GP sent me to h ospital, but I didn’t believe it was anything s erious.
When t he d octor s aid: ‘ We’ve f ound a lump on your brain’, all I could think was: ‘I can’t die, my children need m e’. I w as t errified.
I’d had a brain haemorrhage and needed a s ix-hour o peration.
Waking up in intensive care afterwards w as t he m ost a mazing f eeling. The only thing I can compare it to is when I first met my c hildren.
It was in hospital that I had my light bulb moment. I worried about how my children were coping without me. Separation anxiety is hard on kids, and I wished there was something thatcould make being apart easier for them. So I decided to design a collection of clothing and interiors to provide children with a sense of security when they needed i t m ost.
Our slogan is ‘A superhero has my back’, which reminds kids someone is w atching o ver t hem a t a ll t imes.
At the heart of the collection are two animal-shaped cuddly cushions, designed t o s it o n t he c hild’s b ed a nd watch o ver t hem w hile t hey s leep.
They a re ‘ Superhero S leep B uddies’ — w ith a p ocket w here y ou c an p ut a photo o f t he l oved o ne t hey m iss. F or every Sleep Buddy sold, we donate one t o av ulnerable c hild i n t he U K.
Facing death has given me an o verwhelming desire to do something w ith p urpose. W e d elivered 2 00 Superhero Sleep Buddies to kids at Great Ormond Street Hospital on Christmas Eve, and the response from p arents w as a mazing.