A 26-YEAR-OLD stylist was inspired to start her own business from her hospital bed after beating meningitis.

Melissa McNaughton battled health problems for years, saying all the days she was off sick meant she was repeatedly made redundant and struggled to find a job.

It was only when she was in hospital with pleurisy five years ago that she decided enough was enough and it was time to seize control.

A quick Google search put her in touch with the Prince's Trust and she has never looked back.

She opened a salon in the West End four years ago and has her sights firmly set on a franchise.

Her health - which has always been bad due to a poor immune system - took a dramatic turn for the worst when she was 18 and she contracted the deadly bug.

She said: "I was working at Red, a jeweller's in Silverburn, when I collapsed.

"I went to Boots and they said I had the symptoms of meningitis.

"The next thing I knew I was in a private room in hospital."

Melissa, who runs Macs Glasgow beauty salon, off Byres Road, was in Haremyres hospital for two months.

She remembers feeling "terrified," she said, and worried about the effect her illness was having on her parents, Ann and Stephen Currie, and then-partner, now-husband Michael.

"It was horrible," she said. "I lost a lot of weight. I kept being sick.

"I was lucky though. It can be a killer but they caught it in the early days."

She remembers feeling sick and dizzy a lot of the time but was allowed home for Christmas.

Melissa said she was left constantly fighting infections and in and out of hospital for operations.

She added: "Whenever I went for job interviews and they asked about days off I'd have had 20 to 30 days off in the past year.

"I was made redundant three times in one year. It was just because I was unwell."

The turning point came five years ago when she was in hospital and Googled "help for young people in Scotland" and the Prince's Trust came up.

"I phoned them up and went for an interview. I had experience in hair and beauty - I did training courses at night when I was 16 - and they invited me on the enterprise course.

"It was a week long and I learned all about doing tax, book keeping and marketing. I got to see my strengths and what I could do. I didn't really know how capable I was.

"I finished the course and I was on a mission! I thought I'm going to do this and I've got to do it now or I never will."

Melissa now has a full time stylist and a junior, plus two self-employed stylists working in her salon.

She said the help she got from the Prince's Trust was invaluable and learned "you have to take chances."

"You need to take a leap and follow your gut feeling," she said.

"The best bit of advice I got came from the Prince's Trust and it was never give up. You go after your dreams and don't give up.

"If I look back I wouldn't do anything differently. I've made mistakes but you learn from them."

She is so devoted to her new business that she and Michael put their wedding on hold five years ago and married a few months ago.

The couple, who have been together for nine years, have yet to organise a honeymoon as Michelle is getting busier.

"I've just had to knock a wall down so there's more room," she added.

"Never did I think all those years ago I'd be doing that!"

Michelle, who lives in Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, would like to open a franchise of Macs - "Macs South Side, Macs Edinburgh. That would be great!"

MICHELLE is backing a campaign by the Prince's Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland to help more unemployed young people become self-employed.

The charity is running an advertising campaign, -#MyBigIdea, across both digital and traditional billboards to engage young people who have never considered starting up in business.

Funded by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the campaign features spoof infomercial-style films based on crazy and completely inconceivable business ideas to raise awareness of The Trust’s work among young people.

The youth charity will also share five vlogger-style films illustrating the journey young people take when they sign up to the Enterprise programme.

The Prince’s Trust works with 13 to 30-year-olds who have struggled at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law. Three in four young people helped by The Prince’s Trust move into work, training or education.

More information is available at princes-trust.org.uk or by calling 0800 842 842.

Michelle said: "Without the help of The Prince’s Trust, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

"The support I have received from them has been amazing, I highly recommend them to any young person who is thinking of setting up their own business.”

Last year in Scotland, The Prince’s Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland helped 1,800 young inspiring entrepreneurs, and set up 650 new businesses in Scotland. The most popular types of businesses for Prince’s Trust youth start-ups in Glasgow were hair and beauty, followed by clothing and textiles and food and drink businesses.