A 24-year-old American model, Lauren Wasser, got her right leg amputated below the knee about three years ago after being diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome, a rare but extremely serious bacterial infection linked to tampon use. Now, she’s making sure that TSS would never affect other women by raising awareness about the infection.
As women, we all bleed once a month and we’ve all read the warnings on tampon boxes, yet we use them anyway because they’re convenient and sometimes, sanitary pads feel like adult nappies. Also, how many times have you forgotten you put one in?
Three years ago, Lauren went from feeling really ill to being rushed to the hospital with 10 minutes to live. She woke up from a medically-induced coma to find a bag of black toxins next to her hospital bed, which were pumped out of her bloodstream.
“My belly was huge. There were tubes everywhere. I couldn’t speak,” she told Vice. Overhearing a medical staff telling someone that “I have a 24-year-old girl here who’s going to need a right-leg below-the-knee amputation” was how she found out she was going to lose a leg. “I thought, Oh my God, she’s talking about me,” Lauren said. “I’m going to lose my leg.”
Scientists believe that the synthetic materials used in most tampons are a perfect breeding ground for the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria strain which causes TSS. However, using tampons alone won’t give you the disease. About 20% of people are carriers of that bacteria strain.
The chances of you getting TSS are low, but it’s still important to remind ourselves of the symptoms so we could help each other out. If you tend to forget about your tampon, add a reminder on your phone to tell you when it’s time to change your tampon.
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