Cacsmy Brutus (November 20, 1989 – December 16, 2019), known as Mama Cax, was an American- Haitian model and disabled rights activist. With her

prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

right leg, Cax was a proudly unconventional figure in modern

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

ing.

Early life

Cacsmy Brutus was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, on November 20, 1989. She grew up in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, and at age 14, she was diagnosed with

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) (or simply bone cancer) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) ...

and

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

—doctors gave her three weeks to live. Two years later, she received a hip replacement which failed, leading to the amputation of her right leg. She later said that it took several years to regain her confidence and that she hid her

prosthetic leg In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

for several years. She earned a bachelor's and master's degrees in International Relations. At age 18, Cax learned to play

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (o ...

Modeling

On September 15, 2016, Cax was invited to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

to participate in a fashion show put on by Barack and

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

. At that time, she was working in the office of the

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public proper ...

while finishing her studies. In 2017, Cax appeared in her first commercial advertisement, and soon signed with the modeling agency JAG Models in New York. Among her appearances, she walked the runway in shows for

Chromat Chromat is an American fashion label based in New York City. The label was formed by Becca McCharen-Tran in 2010. Drawing from Becca McCharen-Tran's background in architecture and urban design, Chromat focuses on empowering garments for all bod ...

and

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to t ...

Fenty Beauty Fenty Beauty (stylized as FEИTY BEAUTY) is a cosmetics brand by Rihanna, that was launched on September 8, 2017. Popular for its broad inclusivity across various skin tones, its Pro Filt'R foundation became high-demand upon first release. The o ...

. Her later commercial work included ad campaigns for

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...

and

Sephora Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products. Featuring nearly 340 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, Sephora offers beauty products including cosmetics, skincare, body, fragranc ...

. She walked at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

in 2018, parading in a swimsuit designed by Becca McCharen, who seeks to change the "standards of beauty". That year, she made the cover of ''

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since 2015, following ...

'' with

Jillian Mercado Jillian Mercado (born April 30, 1987) is an American actress and fashion model represented by CAA Fashion. As a wheelchair user (due to muscular dystrophy), she is one of the few professional models who has a visible physical disability in the fash ...

and Chelsea Werner. In 2019, Cax became the face of

Olay Olay, previously Oil of Olay, Oil of Olaz, Oil of Ulan or Oil of Ulay, is an American skin care brand owned by Procter & Gamble. For the 2009 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's revenue. Ear ...

brand for their sunscreen marketing campaign. In October 2019, Cax announced she would be participating in the

New York Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

in a wheelchair.

Death

While in England in December 2019, Cax was admitted to

Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and ...

, for severe abdominal pains and blood clots in the lung; she died in the hospital on December 16, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cax, Mama 1989 births 2019 deaths American people of Haitian descent Models with disabilities American amputees Female models from New York (state) Models from New York City Disability rights activists from the United States 21st-century American women

Early life

Modeling

Death

See also

References