Every four years, torchbearers on a relay route clutch enduring flames to signify the commencement of the official Olympic games, a moment symbolic of unity, anticipation, and cultural exchange. For the weeks that follow, we watch in apprehension as the most decorated athletes compete under exceedingly high stakes, pressure, and flawless standards. We expect mental toughness, immediate recovery, and peak performance from athletes—all on a global stage that is historically considered the best of the best. To us, these athletes have it all.

At 24 years old, Lauren Wasser also seemed to have the full package. She’s the daughter of two models and had a full-ride college basketball scholarship offer with the looks, athletic prowess, and upbringing that some of us could only fantasize about. Pursuing professional basketball in the WNBA was her passion, but she ended up modeling when her photography-loving mom taught her to pose and hit the most flattering angles.

Today, we reflect on her first-ever magazine shoot with FLAUNT, where she remembers motifs of cherries and watermelon, a distinct aura of the playful and bold aesthetic of the early 2000s. From that point, Wasser could only imagine what her modeling career could become, inching toward numerous career opportunities overseas.

But everything changed for Wasser on an October day in 2012, when on her period, she felt flu-like symptoms coming on very quickly. She arrived at the hospital mere minutes from death and was immediately put into a medically-induced coma. Later, she was diagnosed with menstrual toxic shock syndrome (mTSS), a life-threatening bacterial infection in which different bacteria strains produce toxins that travel the bloodstream and harm bodily organs. It’s most commonly correlated with tampon use. Wasser confesses, “I never in a million years would think that me using the product as I should and coming down with flu-like symptoms would mean that I’m dying.”

Menstrual TSS has been linked to tampons since the 80s, yet the artificial materials in tampons have gone unchanged since the product’s introduction into the mass market, with plastic and synthetic fibers exacerbating the issue. Despite these multitude of dangers, there is only one persistent warning via a fine-print label on menstrual product packaging. “These tampon companies need to make products that are going to be safe,” Wasser says. “[They need to be] transparent with what they’re putting inside of these products that we’re using. It’s really sad that we’re in 2024 and this is still happening.”

The immediate challenges Wasser had to endure from the complications of menstrual TSS were awful. In an effort to save her vital organs, doctors increased her blood pressure, which decreased blood flow to her limbs, resulting in a lack of oxygen that caused the tissue to slowly die, and ultimately leading to two separate leg amputation surgeries. “I lost every ounce of who I thought I was up until 24,” she explains. “I was thrown back into a society that I didn’t know anymore.”

What was more harrowing was the mental struggle Wasser experienced as a result of her life changing entirely within the span of 24 hours. “I just didn’t see a place for myself,” she shares. “I had no idea what [had] just happened to me. I was at my darkest point where I had to really figure out how to make something better for myself.

Once Wasser made it through various physical hurdles, she started to see the light of what her life could be on the other side—and the advocate she could be for people who use tampons everywhere. “All of a sudden, this fire was ignited in me to be a messenger,” she reflects. “It takes something like this to happen to someone like me for people to pay attention and see it really can happen to anyone. It made me want to stand up and fight and share my story from the mountaintops to make sure this doesn’t happen to another soul.”

Wasser dually awoke with a fresh, broadened perspective on life. “The moment I woke up from my coma I think I was a different human. In seeing people like my mom and models like Cindy Crawford, I thought that was the world. I realized my idea of what life was about was so shallow and unfulfilling.”

The realization made Wasser unravel. Was there still a place for her in the modeling industry? She was soon emboldened to champion for people globally, and likewise, empowered by a team that wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. “The modeling world is unfortunately built on a one-dimensional standard that is so unrealistic and boring. There are so many people around the world who need representation. I think we’re in that weird limbo where [we’re] wanting to change and move forward but still holding those reins of old news.”

And so, shout from the mountaintops she did, out to not only reinvent her own narrative but also to create a whole new avenue in the modeling and fashion world that ceased to exist before. She’s walked luxury house runways and features in fashion campaigns, from Lacoste to Furla to Lucky Brand’s Fall Winter 2024 Collection. In any recent magazine spread or cover, Wasser resembles a Herculean hero with golden prosthetic legs– an impeccable token of strength, redefined. “No one knows what to expect because they haven’t seen someone like myself,” she expresses. “It’s cool because I get to blow people away and show them there is nothing different [about me], and it’s empowering rather than having them feel sorry for me.” Now dubbed as “the girl with the golden legs,” Wasser says she is pleasantly surprised by how many people come up to compliment her.

But because Wasser has been endowed with such a powerful podium, the fight is long from over. She has been consistently working with lawmakers to make some semblance of legislative change—a never-ending battle that she says is going to take some time. Recently working with a mother who lost her teenage daughter to menstrual TSS, Wasser’s primary advice to tampon users is to be acutely aware of the products they’re consuming and the manufacturers they’re originating from. She says the biggest lingering misconception about menstrual TSS comes from the idea that it can only develop after leaving a tampon in for too long, which is reinforced by warning labels that caution users against leaving a tampon in for any more than eight hours.

“I think that’s something that tampon companies have gotten away with for generations,” she says. “Unfortunately, conversations about periods have been made to be secretive or gross.” One of the facets that still bothers Wasser is the advertising techniques tampon companies use, with commercials of people gallivanting in the summer sun or basking in the relaxation of the poolside, touting that tampons make life that much easier for people who have periods. It seems the fight isn’t an exclusively political one—instead, it’s an insidious issue, seeping into marketing techniques that the public is exposed to daily.

“Just like cigarettes, we should know exactly what we’re using and what could happen so we can have the choice,” she says. “I feel like [people] don’t really have the choice because they don’t have the knowledge and aren’t given it.”

In response to this lack of public education, Wasser is working on a documentary that shares key moments from the fight for her life. “I need people to see the realities of what happened to me,” she emphasizes. “I think people forget–[they] think I woke up and I’m the girl with the golden legs. Instead, this happened because of a device that we think nothing of, that is so toxic it can kill you.”

We begin discussing how important this project could be, especially in an era where society seems to be largely desensitized to others’ struggles, despite how that same struggle could affect anyone equally—partly due to the short-form content overload we expose ourselves to on social media. Wasser is more than cognizant of the unrealistic standards perpetuated by these platforms, but is also grateful for them showing her what life could be while she was recovering. She brings up Hunter Woodhall as an example, a USA Paralympic athlete: “Seeing him running and killing it in life, and seeing other people flourish with prosthetics was awesome to have to look forward to. I was able to see that my life wasn’t ending.”

Whether or not Wasser was expecting to have a large platform, she has undoubtedly blazed a trail for others to follow. Her story is as much a modern retelling of beauty as it is one of incredible perseverance. “I feel such a big duty to change and inspire the world,” she concludes. “Anyone can hold on to whatever they want in life and they can’t give up.” And therein lies a beacon of hope: life is not necessarily without struggle, but often there is something unexpected within reach, glimmering brilliantly and not too far away. 

Photographed by Phil and Sara

Styled by Luca Falcioni at Opus Beauty

Written by Joshen Mantai

Hair: Elsa Cañedo at Opus Beauty. 

Makeup: Taylour Chanel using Rare Beauty. 

Flaunt Film: Mynxii White. 

Stylist Assistants: Tanner Jackson and August Gonét. 

Location: Issue Studio.