This story shows that what seem like simple products can hold threats for our health. In the year 2012, Lauren was a 24-year-old model in California leading the life that many dream about.
She was on the rise in her work, spent time with many, and did all the usual things a healthy girl does, such as use tampons during her monthly cycle.
But just within a day, my routine became a terrible experience.
The first signs I noticed were similar to those of the flu: body pains, coldness, extreme tiredness, and my fever rising. Still, what Lauren didn’t realize was that her difficulties came from somewhere else.
Dele was in the grip of menstrual toxic shock syndrome (mTSS), which is very rare and dangerous. Her body reacted this way because Staphylococcus aureus bacteria released toxins when left in her body with tampons for too long or because they did not work well with her body.
At the time she was rushed to the hospital, Lauren was no longer able to sustain her body’s functions. She experienced two heart attacks, her body temperature reached 42°C (107.6°F), her kidneys and other important organs were starting to stop working, and she was drifting into a coma.
Doctors thought that she had only a 1% chance of living. Since Jenna was likely to be insecure due to her mother’s previous experience in modeling, her mother was advised to expect difficulties.
Doctors told Lauren when she came to the next week that they had to remove her right leg in order to save her life. A drop in blood flow was the reason behind the gangrene, a usual problem for mTSS victims.