Making it work. Bella Hadid opened up about how her battle with Lyme disease affects her career while attending the Global Lyme Alliance’s second annual Uniting for a Lyme-Free World gala in NYC on Thursday, October 13.
The model, 20, told Us Weekly about her daily struggles while joined by her mother, Yolanda Foster. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 52, also has the illness and often documents her journey via social media.
Like Foster, Hadid’s side effects take a toll on her every day. “Usually I’ll wake up from some kind of bone pain, then have to fall back asleep,” she told Us at the event. “I’ll fall back asleep, then sleep until 12 p.m., but that’s just with a 14-hour sleep already [and] I’m still tired.”
“I mean, I’ll call my mom a lot of times and be like, ‘I really don’t wanna go to work today. Please don’t make me go,’” she added. “And she’ll say, ‘You know what: You have to do it today. You already committed.’ I end up going, but I’ll nap during lunch.”
According to Foster, Hadid’s symptoms include pain in her spine, brain fog and severe fatigue. “I still shake when I do red carpets,” Hadid revealed.
Despite the setbacks, Hadid always seems to pull through. “I think it’s [her] determination,” Foster told Us on Thursday. “She has her mind set on her career, and it’s like when people ask me why was I on Bravo for four years. Because, you know why, I needed the paycheck and it was my job. … I show up and Bella’s the same way. She’s gonna keep showing up.”
Luckily, Hadid has many loved ones, including The Weeknd, to lean on when it gets to be too tough.
“My boyfriend’s always there,” she told Us. “My brother [Anwar Hadid], my sister [Gigi Hadid], they’re always there. Definitely my mom, because she knows what I’m going through, so it’s a different understanding.”
Foster chimed in, “It’s hard to really comprehend what this journey is like. It can bring you to your knees.”
