Kristen Erin "Krissy" Taylor (May 15, 1978 – July 2, 1995) was an American model.

Early life and career

Taylor was born in Miami and lived in

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

with her parents and two older sisters. Taylor’s foray into the modeling world was largely due to being supermodel

Niki Taylor Nicole Renee Taylor (born March 5, 1975) is an American supermodel and television hostess. Early life Taylor was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Ken and Barbara Taylor, a highway patrol lieutenant and a photographer, respectively. She was ra ...

's younger sister. At age 11, Taylor began going to shoots with Niki, and photographers began to include her in photos. Her first shoot with sister Niki appeared in ''

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''. She soon signed with her sister’s modeling agency in New York, IMG. At age 13, after Taylor accompanied her sister Niki to castings for the Fall Shows in Milan, the designers impulsively fitted Taylor, and she walked the runways alongside

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

Christy Turlington Christy Nicole Turlington Burns (born January 2, 1969) is an American model and humanitarian. She represented Calvin Klein (fashion house), Calvin Klein's Eternity campaign in 1989 and again in 2014, and also represents Maybelline. Turlington w ...

, and

Claudia Schiffer Claudia Maria Schiffer (; born 25 August 1970) is a German model and actress based in the United Kingdom. She rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the world's most successful models, attaining supermodel status. In her early career, she was compa ...

. Thereafter, Taylor began getting calls to work solo. Taylor had amassed an impressive résumé of credits, including ''

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'', Italian ''

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'', '' YM'', ''

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'', and ''

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''. She had 13 covers to her credit, and appeared on ''

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'' and

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. She also did the 1994 Spring Collections in New York, landing eight shows, including

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

. Her last photo shoot was with sister Niki Taylor for the July/August 1995 cover of '' Ocean Drive'' magazine.

Death

On July 2, 1995, Niki Taylor found Krissy lying unconscious on the floor of their family's home in Florida. After attempts to revive Taylor by her family and authorities failed, she was rushed to Memorial Hospital West and pronounced dead at 5:39 a.m. She was 17 years old. Taylor was known to have had allergies that congested her upper

respiratory system The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies grea ...

and she used Primatene, an over-the-counter

epinephrine Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...

inhaler, to combat shortness of breath. While epinephrine can cause

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

, it was impossible to prove she had taken any just prior to her death. The official cause of death was an acute asthma attack complicated by sudden

. However, she had no prior history of asthma, and no symptoms of a heart condition. Uncertain of the medical examiner's diagnosis, the Taylor family hired independent experts to study tissue samples of Taylor's heart muscle. Those experts concluded that the more likely cause of her death was a rare cardiac disease called

arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD), or arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), most commonly is an inherited heart disease. ACM is caused by genetic defects of the parts of hea ...

(ARVD). Taylor’s mother, Barbara, is now involved with the Cardiac Arrythmias Research and Education (CARE) Foundation.

References

External links

Official Krissy Taylor memorial site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Krissy 1978 births 1995 deaths Female models from Florida People from Pembroke Pines, Florida Deaths from asthma 20th-century American women 20th-century American people