Health
1News

'A tampon almost killed me' - Model shares toxic shock survival story, one year after amputation

January 17, 2019

Model and activist Lauren Wasser, who became a double amputee after suffering toxic shock syndrome, reflected on her tough journey this week - on the one-year anniversary of losing her second leg.

Six years ago, the self-described girl with the golden legs almost died after contracting the illness from tampon use and as a result lost her right leg.

The Los Angeles-based model had initially brushed it off as the flu. She was rushed to hospital after her mother found her face-down on the bedroom floor, according to Nine.

The infection became so extreme that she suffered a massive heart attack before being placed into a medically induced coma.

The now-30-year-old fought to keep her left leg, which was also severely damaged from the bacterial infection, but she decided to have it amputated in January 2018.

A year on from her second amputation, she shared a powerful message with her Instagram followers this week.

"A tampon almost killed me," she wrote. "I was using the product as I should. I got away with my life with a 1 percent chance of survival let alone a life worth living. Actually surviving was the easy part it was waking up to the nightmare that was ahead.”

Wasser ended her post with a positive message of how far she has come.

"Today marks one year since letting go of my left leg and gaining my life back," she wrote. "I really feel like the 24-year-old girl before all this happened. I am now training for the @nycmarathon 2019."

Her post has been liked over 17,000 times and her followers praised her for her courage and amazing attitude.

SHARE ME

More Stories