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Caylee Blosenski has a gold, chrome prosthetic leg, which she got at 17; she was 11 when her leg was amputated following an Osteosarcoma diagnosis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
The model-actress, 19, shows off both her style and sense of humor on TikTok, where her videos have amassed 6 million views<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Blosenski\u00a0opens up about her style, childhood and posting on social media in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Caylee Blosenski<\/a> is a \u201cdiehard gold girl.\u201d<\/p>\n So receiving her gold, chrome prosthetic leg in 2023 was \u201ca huge moment for me,\u201d the Wisconsin-based influencer and actress, 19, tells PEOPLE. \u201cIt had been a dream of mine for over a year,\u201d says Blosenski, “and I was so excited to finally have something that would make me feel both confident and beautiful.”<\/p>\n She was 17 at the time. When her leg was amputated, she was 11.<\/p>\n The year before, she had \u201cnoticed discomfort and pain in my left ankle,\u201d she tells PEOPLE. And while it was uncomfortable, it wasn\u2019t altogether “unusual” for the Cheaper by the Dozen<\/em><\/a> actress, who was a gymnast at the time. But \u201cwhen the pain got significantly worse, my parents decided to take me to get an MRI,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the week my life completely changed,\u201d says Blosenski. \u201cAfter getting the results back and spending a couple days in the hospital for more testing, the doctors came to the conclusion I had Osteosarcoma \u2014 in other words, cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, she recalls, \u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure what cancer meant, so it was a fast and scary learning process. I went through chemotherapy for about a year. During that time, we had made the decision to amputate my leg.\u201d<\/p>\n Just 11 years old, the process was fraught with \u201cuncertainty and frustration,\u201d Blosenski says, \u201cbut I knew this decision would give me the highest percentage of survival while also allowing me to live an active life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt took about a year for me to start wearing a prosthetic leg due to my surgical wounds blistering and extreme phantom pain. I can\u2019t say the first leg I got was magical, but it just took time, effort and a lot of getting used to,\u201d Blosenski continues. \u201cDuring that year with no prosthetic,\u201d she adds. \u201cI took it upon myself to learn life on my one leg.\u201d<\/p>\n And learn she did: Less than a month after her amputation, she was back to her gymnast ways, \u201cdoing backhand springs on the trampoline\u201d and competing on the national level in four different events sans prosthetic, she tells PEOPLE.<\/p>\n Blosenski also began her modeling career while \u201cstill getting treatments\u201d \u2014 part of her life that she now shares with her over 48,000 TikTok<\/a> followers. Though, she recalls, she \u201cwas very nervous and skeptical to post on social media\u201d at first \u2014 despite it playing a \u201csignificant\u201d role in both the acting and modeling worlds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was always something I wanted to do, but I never felt ready or comfortable with putting myself on the internet in front of millions of people,\u201d says Blosenski, whose videos currently have 6 million likes on TikTok. \u201cFor me, it was all about timing. I had people try to force posting on social media too early when I wasn\u2019t in the right headspace to be sharing myself in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was very insecure in my early teens and would have taken it personally if someone said something negative about me,\u201d she adds. \u201cI have now accepted that you can\u2019t let other people\u2019s opinions consume your life and to be transparent and confident in my own skin.\u201d<\/p>\n Plus, she admits, her style has also evolved a lot since her early teens, when \u201cmicro trends\u201d and \u201cfast fashion brands\u201d dominated her wardrobe. \u201cWhile I\u2019m still a sucker for a good trend,\u201d Blosenski says, \u201cI now have ventured more into being my own influencer and buying timeless and unique pieces from a variety of brands.\u201d<\/p>\n She now shows off her more mature style \u2014 which she describes as \u201cclassy and timeless,\u201d but also ever-changing \u2014 on TikTok, where she struts, dances, lip-syncs and sometimes even shows off her gymnastics chops to high-energy bops. She also garners millions of views with more humorous content, like this one<\/a>, in which she jokes that she\u2019s \u201changin out with my ancestors\u201d \u2014 a.k.a. a gold-plated mannequin.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always fun incorporating my prosthetics into my outfits,\u201d says the model-actress. \u201cI\u2019m a diehard gold girl, so having my gold, chrome leg to style has been an absolute dream to have; it elevates my outfits even more.\u201d<\/p>\n But Blosenski doesn’t plan on stopping with gold. \u201cIt would be sick to have a whole inventory of legs that I could rotate through and pick out every morning while putting together an outfit,\u201d she tells PEOPLE. \u201cI\u2019m currently in the process of creating two more legs that I’m extremely excited to share with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n One, she teases, is a \u201cchrome leg but in a different color,\u201d while the other \u201cwill be a part of my Halloween costume this year.\u201d She didn\u2019t reveal what the costume is, but she did say she loves \u201ccreative\u201d suggestions in her comments \u2014 from C-3PO<\/a> to Cherry Darling from Planet Terror<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cReading through my comments, I honestly wasn\u2019t expecting how loving and supportive everyone has been. It\u2019s such a pleasant surprise and I\u2019m blessed to have such kind-hearted people following me,\u201d she says. \u201cIt has made beginning my TikTok so much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n “While I didn\u2019t have the average childhood, it made me who I am today,\u201d adds the influencer. \u201cI\u2019m proud to be unique and for the story I have to tell. I would love to push past the limiting label of \u2018disabled\u2019 because even though I lost my leg, I have gained more than I ever could\u2019ve imagined.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope I can show other people going through hard times that one part of their life doesn\u2019t define who they are forever, and that it does get better.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n