Have A Hug

Hug Wraps are a kimono-styled wrap made of colorful flannel with three-quarter sleeves and front-tie belt that offer a stylish alternative to hospital gowns.

Posted October 13, 2009 by Alicia Staffa

In October 2008, Brenda Jones was diagnosed with breast cancer. After two surgeries in three months, she began radiation therapy. In the chilly radiation room, Jones had to wear two hospital gowns and a coat. “That is where I just snapped,” says Jones. “I was a full-fledged angry cancer patient. Tears streamed down my face and I thought there had to be an alternative to wearing this hideous, degrading gown.”

From Jones’s outrage sprang the idea for Hug Wraps—a kimono-styled wrap made of colorful flannel with three-quarter sleeves and a front-tie belt. Jones had the concept but no skills in sewing, so she asked a friend, seamstress Judy Allison, to help with the project. The first Hug Wrap was finished in time for Jones’s next radiation session. “It gave me back my dignity as a patient, and I needed to do that for others,” says Jones, 51.
So far, Jones has provided 150 free Hug Wraps for patients in more than eight states. (Donations are accepted.) Each Hug Wrap is individually produced, with a print—from purple hearts to rubber duckies—that suits the intended patient. “A patient has to wear something that is louder than cancer,” says Jones, a Southampton resident.

Jones, now completely cancer free, hopes her creation will be the start of a nonprofit organization that will work with an outside company to mass-produce affordable Hug Wraps. “If I can take the burden off of one other patient, then it’s all worth it,” says Jones. “The reason I got breast cancer is Hug Wraps.”
To order a Hug Wrap or make a donation, email hugwraps@verizon.net.

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