Tanyel Mustafa
Published November 27, 2025 8:28pm
Updated November 27, 2025 8:28pm
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A life-changing moment pushed Laura to start her business (Picture: Laura Till)
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At 19-years-old, Laura Till was already looking ahead to her future. Studying for a degree in Sports Coaching, she’d also just got a part-time job to earn extra cash.
But on the way to an induction meeting for her new gig, a freak accident changed Laura’s life forever.
‘It was raining quite heavily, and I wanted to get to work safely. I was driving in the slow lane,’ she remembers.
‘While driving, I was hit by a lorry on the M1, and spun across four lanes of traffic.
‘I ended up getting stuck in the fast lane facing oncoming traffic. I remember seeing a white van coming towards me. I thought this is it, I’m going to die.
‘Luckily it swerved out of the way at the last minute.’
Ambulance and police attended the accident, who freed Laura from the wreckage, and she was taken to the major trauma unit at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre.
Thankfully, none of her injuries were life-threatening, but she was left with soft tissue damage, whiplash and nerve damage on the right hand side of her body.
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Previous Page Next Page‘I was told that if the central reservation had been a steel barrier and not concrete, then my car would have flipped onto the next carriageway and into oncoming traffic,’ she said. ‘I know how close I came to being killed.’
The experience left Laura with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and she needed physiotherapy, as well as CBT and EMDR — a type of therapy known as ‘eye movement desensitisation’ which can help patients process trauma.
‘For a while, I struggled to do even simple tasks like wash my hair,’ she said.
Rewarding work (Picture: Laura Till)
But despite her challenges, the near-death experience sparked a shift in mindset for the then-teenager.
‘I could have made that experience a very negative situation,’ she said. ‘But I realised that life is too short not to follow what you want to do. I chose to move forward.’
Laura finished her degree and decided to focus on her passions. ‘I’ve been involved in sports since I was six years old, and had a passion for it.’ she said.
‘At 14, I had already started volunteering at a sports coaching company.’
So, when she was well enough, Laura set about setting up her own coaching business. The idea was to use sport and exercise to keep vulnerable young people in education.
After securing a £5,000 grant, she started completing the necessary qualifications to run a business working with children. That grant went towards a vehicle she and her team could use to reach different schools.
Two years later, Laura was ready to launch Ambition Sports Coaching Ltd. Her company works with young people in education contexts using physical education and structured educational support. She and her team of 10 work with children facing emotional, mental health, and social challenges or barriers, to help keep them engaged with school and learning.
She also works with families outside of school hours, sometimes in very difficult settings, that involve putting her restraint training services to use.
‘It’s so rewarding on a daily basis but it’s so challenging at the same time,’ she says. This year, her company won The Community Business of the Year 2025 for Leicestershire, as well as The Young Entrepreneur award at the Great British Entrepreneur awards. And, she was awarded silver for National Businesswoman of the Year 2025.
Receiving those awards has helped it sink in for Laura that the work she’s doing is vital for her community.
An award winner (Picture: Laura Till)
‘I’m always focused on helping others, sometimes it takes a moment to step back and realise how far I have come and the impact I’ve had on others,’ she adds.
Laura admits being a business women isn’t always easy, especially while living with PTSD and while still in recovery. ‘I wake up with hot sweats sometimes, have nightmares of crashing, or of my friends having an accident,’ Laura says.
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As for driving, Laura now much prefers to have a passenger with her, and if she is driving alone, she might take a much longer route somewhere to avoid motorways.
‘A year after my accident, I lost a friend to cancer and then the year after another friend in a car accident. I know they wouldn’t have wanted me to stop, but there was a complex survivor’s guilt to process,’ Laura adds.
Laura has also proved that a young woman can succeed. ‘Some thought I was too young,’ she says. ‘So, showing people that you are good enough and you know what you’re doing, and that what you are doing is positive and helpful for those that you work with, that was tough.
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‘I’m so driven and I don’t think anything will ever stop me,’ Laura laughs.
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