EVERY morning Jeri-Lee Fenton gets her five-year-old son John washed and dressed, packs him off to school, then gets to work preparing to open the busy pub of which she is landlady.

On the face of it she's just one of thousands of working mums who juggle their jobs with raising children - but at the tender age of 23 Jeri-Lee has had more ups and downs than most people have had in their lives.

Not least when she suffered a heart attack during labour, which left her and her baby's lives hanging in the balance.

"I was two weeks overdue when my waters broke," said Jeri-Lee, who runs the Rhoden Inn, Roe Greave Road, Oswaldtwistle.

"But 24 hours later I was still at home. The hospital had sent me back because nothing was happening.

"In the end they put a needle in my hand and gave me a drug to bring on labour."

But Jeri-Lee, then aged just 18, had a rare allergic reaction to the drug she was given, which caused her to suffer a heart attack.

"The strain of my reaction, along with that of giving birth, caused the attack," said Jeri-Lee.

"We both very nearly died. My poor mum was beside herself.

"The doctors didn't have time to give me anything.

"They just cut John out of me. I don't remember a lot of what happened.

"All I can recall is screaming out to my mum 'He's not breathing, I can't hear him cry!' "I don't even remember waking up. I was as high as a kite on the drugs they'd given me."

Thankfully both mother and son recovered from the trauma and John was born a healthy 8lbs 9oz and went on to become a bright, happy little boy.

"I take John to the library all the time or we sit and do maths," said Jeri-Lee.

"He's the only boy in his class who can write his name on his own. I'm very proud of him."

But the dramatic events surrounding John's birth were just the latest body blow in Jeri-Lee's life.

When she was seven years old Jeri-Lee was left paralysed after having a rare allergic reaction to the brine in a can of tuna fish.

She defied doctors by learning how to walk again but still suffers problems with swollen joints, especially her knees, which is worsened further by a condition she believes to be multiple sclerosis, but is as yet undiagnosed.

"When my legs are bad I can't move at all and I'm paralysed from the waist down," said Jeri-Lee.

"On those days it's lucky that I have friends and family around to help me.

"Despite crippling health problems Jeri-Lee fulfilled a lifelong ambition in August last year when she became landlady of the Rhoden Inn.

"With the help of a £2,500 grant from No Limits, a £30m government-funded Local Enterprise Growth Initiative which aims to slash unemployment and boost morale in deprived areas of East Lancashire, she transformed the upstairs of the pub into living quarters and paid for her first beer order.

"I'm stubborn. If somebody says I can't do something I do it to prove them wrong," said Jeri-Lee.

But although she loves her work, Jeri-Lee's most important job is mum to John.

"As long as I've got my little man I'm fine," she said.

"I don't take anything for granted in life, you never know if you're going to get knocked down by a bus tomorrow so I live each day as it comes.

"OK, I sometimes get down because of the pain I'm in and sometimes I can't sleep for days and need to take time off work, but I don't dwell on the bad times. I know you have to cherish the good ones."

  • For more information on No Limits and how it could help you contact 0800 6122029 or visit the website below.