A Marlow woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumour and given just five years to live when she was a teenager is setting up her own business more than a decade later.

Jessica Taylor was diagnosed with the tumour in 2007 when she was 13, with mum Karen saying doctors told her she would not live beyond five years.

But Jessica, now 23, beat the odds, fighting a tough battle against the cancer and qualifying as a weight management consultant.

She now wants to set up independently, helping people to lose weight and “feel good about themselves”.

Karen, 44, said: “Unfortunately some of the treatments she was going through at the time made her put weight on and she found it difficult.

“She then lost three stone on the Cambridge Weight Plan and she is now qualified as an independent weight plan consultant.

“I’m incredibly proud of her. She has come such a long way.”

Jessica underwent three major surgeries, one of which caused her to have a minor stroke, forcing her to learn how to walk again.

She said: “People with the type of brain tumour that I had weren’t expected to live more than five years.

“It’s incredible that I’ve proved that wrong and it gives hope to other adults and children as well.”

Once Jessica recovered from her treatments, she went first to study floristry at the BCA (Berkshire College of Agriculture) in Maidenhead and then moved on to Aylesbury College to study beauty therapy.

She added: “Because I missed out on so much, I wanted to do something calming and stress-free. 

“It feels amazing to be here. I took everything as it came. I was prepared for the worst.”

Speaking about why Jessica decided to become a weight management consultant, Karen said: “She felt like she had been held back in a way but now she has found her feet and she wants to help people lose weight and feel good about themselves.”

The family raised £35,000 for the John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital, where Jessica had her treatments.

Jessica has now been invited to work one day a week from the Divas and Dudes hair salon where her best friend, Jessica Watkinson had her hair short in a pledge of moral support in 2008.