Elle Macpherson, supermodel and businesswoman extraordinaire, made headlines in September after opening up about her experience with breast cancer. She has made the decision to focus on alternative treatment rather than traditional medicine. Though the 59-year-old was initially rocked by her life-changing diagnosis, she now views her adventure through this life-altering experience as a time of awakening and personal empowerment.
In February 2017, soon after marrying the real estate titan Jeffrey Soffer, Macpherson was dealt the frightening blow of her diagnosis. After breaking up with Soffer in June, she began dating Andrew Wakefield. He is the controversial figure notorious for his now-discredited claims of a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. The legacy of Wakefield’s fraud continues to influence public health conversations now. This impact is most apparent in the vaccination rate disparity between the UK and Ireland.
Just as importantly, Macpherson has expressed that today, she is in clinical remission — what she calls “utter wellness.” Even when her child’s doctors and specialists told her to give up based on the recommendation of 32 physicians, she pursued other therapies. In her own words, “Rejecting conventional medical treatments was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life. To turn my back on what I felt was right deep down would have been even more difficult.
Her decision too has earned loads of heat. Mixed reactions from her ex partner, Arpad “Arki” Busson, shed light on the issues with her treatment approach. Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has begun to understand the role some complementary therapies can play, noting the ways they can improve overall well-being. Yet, they caution that these therapies can cause adverse events and may interact with conventional cancer treatments.
As she reflects on her experience, Macpherson is preparing to publish a memoir titled “Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself.” The book, as she told us, will focus primarily on her own journey and the lessons that she’s picked up along the way.
Macpherson raised her two adult sons—Flynn, 26, and Cy, 21—who helped her survive the storm with love and affection. Her unique road to the model’s creation story illustrates the personal nature of health choices, as well as the different ways that people react to grave health diagnoses.