‘Rest In Power sis.’ Haitian model Mama Cax remembered as a force in the fashion world

The death of Mama Cax led to an outpouring of grief on social media on the weekend.

The Haitian-American model was an activist for inclusivity in fashion and an inspiration to fans who watched her stroll catwalks worldwide with a rhinestone-adorned prosthetic leg after beating childhood cancer.

Rihanna, Jameela Jamil, Rosario Dawson and author Olivia A. Cole were among the celebs to post props to Cax who died on Dec. 16 in London at age 30. Her family broke the news on her Instagram account on Friday.

“A queen. A force. A powerhouse beauty that brought her strength to the @savagexfenty stage this year inspiring so many across the globe. Rest In Power sis,” Rihanna wrote.

Mama Cax modeled at an event for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty lingerie brand in September. She also featured at New York Fashion Week for Tory Sport at a Teen Vogue showcase in September, dazzling with her decorated prosthetic leg and a pair of crutches.

Cax — a play on her birthname Cacsmy Brutus and a nod to the late 60s folk-pop singer Mama Cass — died after she experienced “severe abdominal pain” while on a modeling assignment in London on Dec. 12, USA Today reported.

According to reports, emergency room doctors chalked the pain up to inflammation, but the next morning they found blood clots in her leg, thigh, abdomen and near an IVC filter that was there to prevent blood clots from entering her lung.

“To say that Cax was a fighter would be an understatement,” her family posted to her Instagram account.

“As a cancer survivor, she had grown accustomed to taking on life’s several challenges head-on and successfully. It is with that same grit (fervor) that she fought her last days on earth,” the family posted.

Cancer diagnosed at 14

Cax, born in New York City, grew up in Haiti and modeled for major brands that included Tommy Hilfiger and ASOS and was on the cover of Teen Vogue. She was diagnosed with cancer at age 14. Soon after, she lost her leg to bone and lung cancer when a hip replacement failed.

“Childhood cancer left me with a million scars (mostly emotional)” she once wrote.

A force in fashion industry

Refinery 29, a digital media and entertainment website focused on young women, praised Cax as a force within the fashion industry that is often reluctant to showcase bodies that are different.

“The ferocity with which she advocated for self-care, self-love, and self confidence through creative pursuits made her an undeniable force that helped trigger a new, more empowered phase within the fashion industry,” Refinery 29 wrote.

On Dec. 2, Cax told her followers she had spent her 30th birthday in Iceland at the The Women Leaders Global Forum where Iceland President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson welcomed Cax and other leaders to the presidential residence near Reykjavík.

“On my birthday, I got to deliver a speech on how cancer led me to the body positive community and ultimately teaching girls that courage and strength and compassion will always be more important than looks,” Cax posted on Instagram.

Mama Cax’s global reach

Cax’s modeling and speaking assignments took her around the world — from the corridors of the Obama White House to the Champs-Élysées to the corridors of The Oprah Magazine headquarters in New York.

For Oprah, Cax recently addressed a panel to speak on body positivity.

“If you’re not ready to love your body for how it looks, admire it for how far it’s gotten you,” she told her audience.

Her first major fashion campaign was for Wet ‘n Wild in 2017, according to Lee Bailey’s Electronic Urban Report.

The Washington-based advocacy group, Women Enabled said of Cax on Twitter: “The world with miss her poise and vision and WEI sends our support to friends, family, and the disability community during this time.”

Actress Rosario Dawson (“Death Proof,” “Kids”) called Cax “a stand for truth and liberty in every place.”

Kentucky author and blogger Olivia A. Cole (“A Conspiracy of Stars”) was short and to the point on Twitter. “God damn. What a terrible loss.”

British actress and model Jameela Jamil said in her Twitter post that her “beautiful friend” was “an extraordinary role model.”

On Friday, Refinery 29 celebrated Cax as a trailblazer.

“Her electric outfits were fearless, expressive, and experimental, gleefully combining dozens of references, colors, shapes, and designers as if she couldn’t get enough of the beautiful, lovely things in life.

“A beauty inside and out,” added a post from photographer Drake Patton who shot Cax at a fashion shoot for Refinery 29 in New York.