From dorm to operating room: NC woman creates recovery bra for breast cancer during freshman year at Wake Forest University

DURHAM, NC (WTVD) — October is Breast cancer awareness Month, and ABC11 is highlighting a North Carolina woman’s innovation in recovery clothing for post-surgery patients.

Leah Wyrick founded Three strands of recovery clothing as a freshman at Wake Forest University. She was inspired to create a new surgical bra with special features, such as holders for drainage bags 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 those complications actually could have been prevented and realized that this doesn’t just happen to my mother. It happens to millions of other women,” Wyrick said.

Wyrick built the Resilience Bra during the four years she worked at Wake Forest University Center for Entrepreneurship.

It happens to millions of other women.

“I was really fortunate to be surrounded by such an incredible medical community in Winston-Salem, who was able to really leverage the hospitals and some great surgeons in the area to build a product that was truly based on patient feedback Wyrick added.

“The bra is intended for the patient to put on on the operating table and wear at home, specifically in the postoperative period from 0 to 8 weeks. However, we know that there are many wonderful mastectomy boutiques that also work closely with the hospital systems where patients reside can actually get fitted before their surgery, whether it’s a mastectomy, lumpectomy or reconstruction. They can go to these boutiques and get fitted beforehand, and insurance typically covers at least two bras every six months.”

The Resilience bra, created by Leah Wyrick of Three Strands Recovery Wear

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