From dorm room to operating room: NC woman creates breast cancer recovery bra during freshman year at Wake Forest University – ABC11 Raleigh-Durham

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and ABC11 is highlighting a North Carolina woman’s innovation in clothing for post-surgery patient recovery.

Leah Wyrick founded Three Strands Recovery Wear as a freshman at Wake Forest University. She was inspired to create a new surgical bra with special features like drainage pocket holders and compression straps after seeing what her mother Nancy went through after a mastectomy and three subsequent surgeries due to complications.

“We quickly realized that with a better post-op bra, some of these complications could have actually been prevented, and we realized that this wasn’t just happening to my mum. It happens to millions of other women,” Wyrick said.

Wyrick created The Resilience Bra during the four years he was at Wake Forest University through the Center for Entrepreneurship.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by such an amazing medical community in Winston-Salem to really leverage the hospitals and some amazing surgeons in the area to create a product that’s really based on patient feedback,” added Wyrick.

“The bra is designed to be put on the patient on the operating table to be worn at home, especially in that post-op period of 0 to 8 weeks. However, we know that there are many wonderful mastectomy boutiques that also work closely with hospital systems where patients can actually go to get fitted before their surgeries, whether it’s a mastectomy, lumpectomy, or reconstruction. They can go to these boutiques and be fitted beforehand, and insurance usually covers at least two bras every six months. “

Since graduating in 2022, Wyrick now runs Three Strands Recovery Wear full-time with her mother. The Resilience Bra is carried in ten states at local mastectomy boutiques, including the Duke Cancer Center in Durham, North Carolina

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