After overcoming a decade-long health battle, Yolanda Hadid looks back on that fight and sees “blessings in disguise.”
That’s how she put it during a newly published interview with British Vogue, in which the 57-year-old veteran model and mom to the industry’s brightest stars—Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid and Anwar Hadid—reflected on her struggle with Lyme disease and how she has learned to manage her chronic symptoms. But, while she’s relishing in her new normal today, the pain of the past is clear.
“I used to be a multitasking, single mother-of-three and social butterfly who, slowly, started to lose her magical powers,” she described to the magazine. Recalling a list of symptoms, including “severe fatigue,” “brain fog” and “joint pain,” Yolanda said it all “left me feeling depressed.” Adding to the difficult situation, Yolanda was fighting an illness without looking ill.
“Like with many chronic diseases and mental health issues, the unfortunate truth is that you appear to be healthy on the outside, which is difficult for people to reconcile,” she said. “It’s much easier for us to have compassion for somebody with visible external symptoms. Most people still don’t seem to believe that chronic Lyme disease even exists. As the saying goes: you don’t truly get it until you get it.”
