Most of us can’t picture how a personal care item could turn into a nightmare and alter your life forever. And Lauren’s bad dream is still going on. Not long ago, doctors had to cut off her other leg.
Lauren now wants to make sure that no other woman has to go through what she did, so she is warning other women about the risks of a common product.

The model from California, Lauren Wasser, went to the hospital in 2012 with flu symptoms. The truth was that she wasn’t sick with the flu, but with toxic shock syndrome, which is caused by bacterial toxins.

What caused the infection? A pad. If you use tampons and leave them on for a long time, they can give you an infection that leads to toxic shock syndrome, or TTS.

Lauren was in a coma for more than a week after the TTS. When she woke up, they had to cut off a leg because it was infected. She had been 24 years old.

Lauren’s only goal in life since then has been to make sure that no one else has to go through what she has.

This shouldn’t happen to anyone else.
“I’m going to have to have my other leg cut off in a few months.” I can’t do anything about it. She tells The Daily Mail, “What I can do is help make sure this doesn’t happen to other people.”

Lauren is suing Kotex Natural Balance, the brand of tampons that made her react so badly, in a very tough case.

“Because the vagina is the body part that absorbs the most and gives access to many of our vital organs, it is important for consumers to know what could really happen,” Lauren writes in InStyle.

Lauren recently had to have her other leg cut off, which was very sad.

As soon as the model got out of the operating room, she shared a picture on social media with Paralympic athlete Amy Purdy, who had both legs cut off. She wrote this message with the picture:

“Once more, life is going to be so different! Still, I’m in a good mood and ready for the next part of my life. // picture by my sweetheart @camraface”

I admire this girl for being so brave. Stay strong and positive as you fight. She keeps fighting, not just for herself but also for other people, so no one else has to go through what she did.

Please tell other women about Lauren’s story so that they know how dangerous tampons can be.