(Sept. 10, 2018 – Source: Cindy Ord/Getty Images North America)
*The fashion world is mourning the loss of a true pioneer, as Haitian-American model and advocate Mama Cax has died after her long battle with cancer. She was 30.
According to an Instagram post, while in London for a photoshoot earlier this month, Cax discovered “blood clots in her leg, thigh, abdomen, and around a medical filter near her lungs that was implanted when she first battled cancer in her teens,” refinery29.com reports. She spent a week in the hospital battling the illness.
“Childhood cancer left me with a million scars (mostly emotional)” she wrote in an Instagram post. Cax lost her leg to bone and lung cancer when she was 14.
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My beautiful friend was the most extraordinary role model. Mama Cax was a cancer survivor, model, amputee, and activist. She was sent home TWICE prematurely by our underfunded NHS and died in her hotel room. This happens so often now in the UK, especially to young black women. ? pic.twitter.com/tng9DcgFNc
— Jameela Jamil ? (@jameelajamil) December 20, 2019
Her family posted a picture on the model’s Instagram page announcing her death on Friday (Dec. 20), “It is with deep regret and immense sadness that we announce the passing of Cacsmy Brutus (Mama Cax).”
Glamour magazine posted a picture of Cax with the caption: “Mama Cax was a crusader for visibility and change in the fashion industry. We honored this model and activist as one of our 2019 Women of the Year All Year and are devastated by her loss.”
Rihanna posted on Twitted, “A queen. A force. A powerhouse beauty that brought her strength to the @savagexfenty stage this year inspiring so many across the globe. Rest In Power sis.”
A queen. A force. A powerhouse beauty that brought her strength to the @savagexfenty stage this year inspiring so many across the globe. Rest In Power sis ✊?? @mama_cax pic.twitter.com/Nq43DoJZb9
— Rihanna (@rihanna) December 20, 2019
The “body positive” fashion blogger landed her first campaign for Wet n Wild in 2017, and went on to model for major brands like Tommy Hilfiger and ASOS. She made her runway debut in September 2018 at Chromat’s show, working the catwalk with her crutches and rocking swimwear.
(Source: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images North America)
“Body positivity [is] not only [about] embracing yourself and your body’s journey but learning that if your embracement of bodies does not include ALL BODIES it is not body positive,” Cax posted on her Instagram after speaking at a recent panel for Oprah Magazine. “I always remind my audience that their bodies allowed them to get to work and at the end of the day it will take them home to their loved ones. […] If you’re not ready to love your body for how it looks, admire it for how far it’s gotten you.”
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