Isabelle Caro, who went public with her anorexia nervosa struggle, has passed away at age 28.
If you saw the 2007 fashion week Nolita public-awareness ad campaign featuring Isabelle Caro, you’d never forget it. The model is naked, bones jutting through her skin. She weighs just 55 pounds.
You feel pity and revulsion. “No anorexia,” the billboard says.
Isabelle Caro, a model from France, struggled with anorexia nervosa through most of her life, and finally passed away from complications of the disorder last month at age 28. In recent years, she had gone public with her disorder—literally baring herself to show how the disease had ravaged the once-beautiful woman.
Although it was difficult for Caro to reveal her body to the world, she wanted to help prevent other young women from falling into the dangerous spiral of weight loss that she had succumbed to. She had struggled to recover from the disorder and grow to love her body at a normal weight, but she was unable to escape from the disease’s grip.
Nonetheless, the sad, startling photos of Caro will serve as a lasting legacy for the tragic young woman, showing the world the ugliness of anorexia nervosa. (See the photos here—but be warned: they’re not for the feint of heart.)
Are you or someone you know suffering from anorexia or another eating disorder? Visit Eating Disorder Hope for help recovering.