Burns victim opening Telford fitness studio 10 years after being told she'd lose her feet
[gallery] When Tara-Lee Trafford was caught in a house fire, doctors were so sure her feet were beyond repair that they wanted to remove them.
But the then 17-year-old's parents battled to overturn their decision, knowing that her dream to work as a fitness instructor would be gone forever if she had the operation.
A decade later, Tara has fully recovered and has started her own business, Fit4Families. She is moving into her own premises in Oakengates, Telford, in May, and hopes the business will give parents and young children the chance to work out together.
The 27-year-old said: "My skirt caught fire and I had 42 per cent burns on my body. My parents were told not to leave because I wasn't going to make it through surgery.
"I was taken to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, where I had six operations in five days. After those five days they were going to cut my feet off. My parents pleaded with the doctors not to do it. My parents took turns moving my feet to try to stimulate them. My parents and my sister saved my feet.
"Then I had to learn to walk again. They told me it was never going to happen.
"A couple of months before the fire I'd trained as an aerobics instructor and that gave me the push to go back to it.
"After I'd started to recover, they said if I walked to the reception desk I could go home. They told me it would take two months, but I did it in five days. It was the determination to get back out there and start training."
Tara's new studio in the basement of the Industry Night Club in Lion Street, Oakengates will see her bringing parents and their children into the same fitness sessions, so that they can enjoy staying healthy together.
"It's a place for families to work out together, rather than having to struggle with a corporate gym that doesn't cater to the under-16s. I have a child myself, so I understand the struggles there.
"It's dance fitness, but it's not like a school where there are grades and it's serious. It's all about having fun."
There will be an open day on May 1 with taster sessions for families to try. Industry is still running as a night club on Fridays and Saturdays.
