#RestInPower: Remembering The Celebs We Lost In 2019 - Page 25

Mama Cax

Source: Noam Galai / Getty

Cax, a model and disability advocate who helped challenge the beauty standards of the fashion industry by regularly fighting for the underrepresented died on December 16 in London. She was 30-years-old. Cax was hospitalized earlier in December due to blood clots near her lungs and legs. The Brooklyn native and Haitian-American activist whose real name was Cacsmy Brutus, rose through the fashion ranks covering Teen Vogue and walking the runway for some of the biggest names in fashion including Chromat, Tommy Hilfiger and most recently appeared in Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty show. Cax is also a cancer survivor and at the age of 14 was forced to undergo a hip replacement due to her illness. She later had to amputate her leg due to her body rejecting the replacement. However, Cax used her platform to show that beauty is not restricted to one standard, and proudly sported her prosthetic leg and cancer scars as she strutted runways and posed for photos.