Yolanda Hadid received some devastating news in 2012 when she was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. The mother of three got the news from a Belgian doctor that year after symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and muscle weakness had her feeling beside herself. According to the CDC, Lyme disease is “an illness caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and spread by blacklegged ticks.” In 5% to 10% of patients, the disease can be chronic, characterized by prolonged symptoms, such as exhaustion, muscle weakness, and difficulty thinking.
Hadid’s battle with chronic Lyme disease severely altered her life, leading her to contemplate suicide over the intense agony. “I can’t begin to describe the darkness, the pain, and the hell I lived through every day,” she admitted to Vogue. “For some time, it didn’t even feel like living at all. This disease brought me to my knees.”
Hadid doesn’t know how she contracted the virus, but she chalked it up to the time she spent on a farm amongst horses while raising her kids in Santa Barbara, California. Unfortunately, her kids, Bella and Anwar, were also diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease around the same time as her. Fortunately for Bella, she shares her mother’s love of horses, which has helped her keep her mind off the side effects of her condition. “I feel better when I’m riding,” Bella wrote on a TikTok video after dealing with a Lyme flare-up. “I think my horses just really take my mind off the pain.”
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