Mama Cax: death of model and disability rights activist explained as she is honoured by Google Doodle

Cax defied preconceived conceptions of beauty, strutting triumphantly down catwalks with a prosthetic leg
Mama Cax walks the runway in 2018 (Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Teen Vogue)Mama Cax walks the runway in 2018 (Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Teen Vogue)
Mama Cax walks the runway in 2018 (Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Teen Vogue)

Today’s (8 February) Google Doodle honours Haitian-American model and disability rights activist Mama Cax in recognition of Black History Month.

Cax is well renowned for challenging conventional notions of beauty, triumphantly sauntering down catwalks on her prosthetic leg, which was frequently decorated with colours and patterns. On this day in 2019, the model and activist made her runway debut at New YorkFashion Week.

Here is everything you need to know about her.

Who was Mama Cax?

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Mama Cax - real name Cacsmy Brutus - was born on 20 November 1989 in Brooklyn, New York, but was raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She received a diagnosis of lung and bone cancer at the age of 14 - doctors initially gave her just three weeks to live - and endured an unsuccessful hip replacement procedure two years later, which resulted in the amputation of her right leg.

Cax initially experienced depression, and found it difficult to accept the prosthetic leg she had been fitted with because she wanted it to match her skin tone and look natural. But she gradually learned to accept and love her new physique, proudly donning fashionable prosthetic covers and incorporating them into her personal style, and wearing eye-catching makeup and hair colours with her vibrant clothing to show off her passion for fashion.

In addition to leaning into her athleticism and learning to handcycle - she also learned to play wheelchair basketball at the age of 18 - during this period of embracing her disability, Cax also ran the New York City Marathon in a wheelchair.

As the wider body positivity movement flourished, Cax noticed that Black women and women with disabilities lacked representation in social media, and so she started posting frequently, speaking out for diversity in the fashion industry, and using her platform to talk about her body insecurities.

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In September 2016, Cax was invited to the White House to participate in a fashion show put on by Barack and Michelle Obama. She made her professional debut in the fashion world as a model in a commercial in 2017, and Jag Models soon signed her. Among her appearances, she walked the runway in shows for Chromat and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, and starred in ad campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger and Sephora.

After landing a Teen Vogue cover in 2018, Cax walked in both the February and October New York Fashion Weeks the following year, parading in a swimsuit designed by Becca McCharen, who sought to change the "standards of beauty".

How did she die?

In 2019, while in England, Cax was admitted to the Royal London Hospital for severe abdominal pains and blood clots in the lung. These medical issues tragically resulted in Cax’s premature death in hospital at the age of just 30.

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