Mama Cax is a model and cancer survivor. At the age of 14 she was diagnosed with bone and lung cancer that resulted in a leg amputation at the hip. But by 28, she has walked the catwalk at New York Fashion Week, proving that a strong will power is most often times the best remedy.
“People often assume that I’m an extremely positive person; the truth is I’m quite the pessimist,” she admitted in an interview with Create & Cultivate. “But I’m very goal-oriented and ambitious. I think what often keeps me going is knowing that I can’t change the past and the future is not guaranteed, therefore I have no choice but to make the best of the present.”
Taking to wheelchair basketball, rock climbing, and running, Cax indeed makes the most out of the present. “There are very few people with disabilities in the fashion industry let alone the catwalk so when the opportunity came up I didn’t hesitate,” she explained. “I knew it would be a way to break barriers and help open doors for others by showing it is possible.”
Her Instagram page, where she posts regularly has gained quite a following thanks to her fashionable photos and goal oriented attitude. “Social media is so unpredictable but when it comes to fashion,” she explained. “It has the power to level the playing field. Before social media, models were recruited at malls and on the streets by ‘experts’ and only a select few (thin, tall, young & white) could be models. Social media has shown the different kinds of beauty that exist while giving a voice to those who have been underrepresented.”
“I do believe that there are positive bubbles on social media; as consumers it’s up to us to decide if we are going to follow accounts that make up desperate and enviable or follow those who make us appreciate who we are.”
Check out her some of her striking and inspiring photos in the gallery below.
