A Californian model almost died after getting Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) caused by a tampon.
Lauren Wasser, who had both her legs amputated as a result of TSS, has spoken about her near-death experience on The Diary Of A CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett.
The 35-year-old said she just felt flu like symptoms at first.
Advert
Police later found her unconscious, covered in vomit and feces, on her bedroom floor, after her mother called them to perform a welfare check.
She was rushed to the hospital, where her temperature reached 107 degrees (41.6C), before she suffered a heart attack and was put in a medically-induced coma.
An infectious disease doctor ask medical staff to check if she had a tampon in and after a test was conducted, she was diagnosed with TSS.
When she woke from the coma, Wasser found out the damage to her legs from gangrene was irreparable and doctors needed to amputate.
"My feet were on fire, it was like someone was lighting my foot on fire, the burning sensation was insane," she told Bartlett on the podcast.
Advert
"My right leg was worse than my left, my toes on my left were turning purple but my right side, there was a lot more damage, you could tell. So then the concern came in that basically they needed to amputate my right leg to save my life or I was going to die."
Wasser said she only found out about the amputation because she overheard a nurse talking on the phone.
"I am lying there, my room is empty and I can hear a nurse behind a curtain, she is saying: 'I have a young girl here, she is 24 years old, who's going to need a right leg below-the-knee amputation'," she explained.
"I remember looking around and thinking, 'Is she talking about me, she's saying I am an amputation?'.
Advert
"And I just started screaming, I was screaming for my mother, my godfather, I was screaming for everyone, saying; 'Do not let this person touch me'.
"I was unaware of the severity of the situation for myself. That was the first time I heard the word amputation."
With a 50 per cent chance her left leg could be saved, Wasser chose not to have it amputated at the time.
After the surgery, Wasser was told she couldn't be given any pain medication.
Advert
"So for 24 hours they put me in my own little room and I felt every single thing that was done to me, I was screaming, I was crying, I felt like a shark had just f***king ripped through my leg.
"My mother couldn't be in the room, no one could be because I was screaming, crying and freaking out. Not only was it traumatic having my leg chopped off but then to have to really feel what was just done to me was on another level."
The left leg caused her so much pain over the next six years, she had to have to amputated as well, just before she turned 30.
Advert
Wasser has now dedicated her life to raising awareness about TSS.
"[Tampons] are made using chlorine bleach, dioxin and synthetic fibres, which create the perfect storm in our bodies," she said on the podcast.
"I have been working with a mother who lost her teenage daughter to TSS when she was 18 - Madeline Mosby.
"Through the darkness and trauma of that we have joined forces in wanting to change the world and wanting to advocate and pass these bills.
"She's been doing a lot of the groundwork like starting her foundation DontShockMe.org. There is a bill that we are working on to pass."
Keryn Donnelly