Local Mom Fights to Honor Daughter,
Protect Others from Deadly Consequences of mTSS
10 APRIL 2021 | TheJournalNJ.com
BY SHANNA O’MARA
Madalyn “Maddy” Massabni was
a 19-year-old freshman at Lynn
University in Florida. Before
to Tampa to visit her older brother,
Georgie, then traveled home to Rumson
to spend time with her mother,
Dawn. Dawn said the three had been
“inseparable” and admitted Maddy
was always the one to light up a room
nature. She and her mom went out
to dinner to celebrate. The next night,
Maddy went to bed early after feeling
ill. Her mom said they’d go to the doctor
in the morning if she still felt sick.
Dawn woke up her daughter the next
day, but Maddy was barely responding.
Paramedics rushed to the house, but it
was too late. Maddy suffered a heart
attack and died in her mother’s arms.
“It haunts me every day,” Dawn
-
tom and her being gone. We thought she had a stomach bug or something.”
Maddy died of menstrual toxic shock syndrome (mTSS), a life-threatening
Dawn Massabni with her daughter, Maddy, and son, Georgie
complication which is caused by the use of superabsorbent tampons.
Dawn said her daughter had her period that week and had been using
Playtex Sport tampons carefully, changing them as often as recommended.
Maddy did everything right, did what millions of women do each day, and
yet she lost her life just three days after turning 19.
“My heart is broken,” Dawn cried. “Every day is absolute torture. She
was so full of life, had such a huge heart, and I can’t do anything for her
anymore. I’m her mom, and I can’t do anything. It gives me some peace of
mind knowing we’re going to change things. I’m not going to let another
family go through what we do every day.”
Since her daughter’s passing, Dawn
regarding tampon sales and mTSS
education. She has established the
“Don't Shock Me” Maddy Massabni
Foundation for Toxic Shock Awareness,
met with representatives of the Food
and Drug Administration, worked
with New Jersey lawmakers, given
talks at schools around the country
and reached countless people online.
She and Senator Declan O’Scanlon,
who represents Monmouth County,
introduced Madalyn's Law, which
requires school districts to incorporate
age-appropriate instruction on
menstrual toxic shock syndrome and
requires installation of signage in certain
women's rooms to enhance public
awareness of mTSS. Dawn said the
legislation has not yet been reviewed
by the Senate or Assembly. She has
politicians pass the Tampon Packaging
Law, which would require tampon
manufacturers to print a bold warning
on the outside of the box, clearly stating
the ingredients in the product and
symptoms of mTSS as well as print the
signs of toxic shock syndrome on the
women will see this with each use.
“When you buy tampons, there’s a
small insert inside the box with tampon
information,” Dawn said. “The
print is so small that I can’t read it.
When I give presentations at schools
and ask all the girls, ‘Who throws that
insert away as soon as they open the box?’, everyone raises their hand. Women
don’t know the symptoms. Many wait to feel better, or they go to the doctor
and are told to come back if symptoms persist. By then, they may need to
be put on a ventilator. Some lose limbs to amputation. Many don’t make it.”
Days after Maddy’s passing, Dawn said she was sitting outside, silently
begging her daughter to give her a sign to let her know she was safe and
to feel connected to her daughter. It is that symbol that serves as the inspiration
behind an upcoming fundraiser she planned with Red Bank-based
artist Jordan G. Robinson. Robinson, whose younger sister went to school
with Maddy, described her as “a bright light.”
“They went to Deane Porter and Forrestdale School together,” Robinson
said. “I remember taking them to Sea Bright Public Beach, and Maddy
was twirling around in the gazebo. She was so happy. She had some rare
an impact on me.”
Robinson currently serves as the PR chair for Don't Shock Me, and to-
The fashion show fundraiser will honor Maddy, who was studying fashion
in college, while raising funds and awareness for menstrual toxic shock syndrome.
The ultimate goal, Dawn said, is protecting others from the pain she
has felt each day since losing her daughter.
“Maddy is my strength and courage,” she said. “If I gave up, she’d be
so upset with me. If she had made it through, she would make sure no one
away with it.”
mTSS, a petition for Madalyn’s Law, the upcoming fundraiser and to watch The
Documentary, visit DontShockMe.org or email dontshockme19@gmail.com.
Madalyn “Maddy” Massabni
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