Gigi Hadid has shared insights into her sister Bella Hadid’s battle with Lyme disease.
Taking to her Instagram Story on Tuesday, the 28-year-old model explained a throwback picture featuring her and Bella backstage at a fashion show from the previous month, along with the caption, “Can’t wait 4 the comebaccckkkkkk.”
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“Just want to address this post from last week,” Gigi wrote, “Bella has recently completed an extensive and challenging treatment for Lyme disease. I didn’t want anyone to interpret my post as a promise of her imminent return to shows this coming season…”
In addition to clarifying her earlier post about her supermodel sibling, Gigi expressed her pride and excitement for Bella’s comeback whenever she feels ready.
Bella was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012, along with her younger brother Anwar, 24, and their mother, former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda, 59.
Mayo Clinic outlines the symptoms of Lyme disease, including fever, extreme fatigue, joint stiffness, and swollen lymph nodes. In 2021, Bella offered a glimpse into her life with Lyme disease by sharing snapshots of herself receiving IV treatment.
“Living with a few chronic autoimmune diseases = always finding time for my IVs,” she captioned the photos.
Meanwhile, in a 2019 interview with Elle magazine, Gigi opened up about her family’s struggle with the illness and shared her feelings of guilt.
“Growing up, having three of my family members sick made me very independent,” she revealed. “My mom couldn’t drive or get out of bed some days, so I took my brother to school with me, or I made lunch.”
“But I also felt a lot of guilt for being the one person in the family who didn’t understand what they were going through,” Gigi added. “It’s hard when your whole family is in pain, and you don’t know what to do.”
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Yolanda, the mother, spoke about the debilitating symptoms, saying, “There are rough days when you sleep 12 hours, you wake up at 11, and you can’t get out of bed, with severe joint pain, brain fog, anxiety. There are a lot of symptoms that you can’t see from the outside but bring you to your knees on the inside.”
“You can never get rested; that’s the best way to explain it,” she added. “Life goes on, and you try to keep going. Especially with the younger generations, they have to keep pushing.”