Yolanda Foster Reveals Children Bella Hadid And Anwar Hadid Also Battling Lyme Disease

Yolanda Foster, who was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012, revealed Thursday that her daughter Bella Hadid and son Anwar Hadid have been battling the disease as well.

Hadid Siblings’ Lyme Disease

Foster was accompanied by Bella, 19, Anwar, 16, and their famous model sister Gigi Hadid, 20, to the Global Lyme Alliance ‘Uniting for a Lyme-Free World’ Inaugural Gala, where she delivered a moving speech. While standing before the crowd that had gathered at New York City’s Cipriani, Foster revealed that it was learning that two of her children had Lymes that gave her the strength to arduously search for a cure.

“I honestly don’t have the proper words in my vocabulary to describe to you the darkness, the pain, and the unknown hell I’ve lived these past years.,” Foster said. “I actually did not live. I just existed in a jail of my own paralyzed brain. This disease has brought me to my knees. Many nights I wish to die. I pray that I will just wash away into heaven, where there will be no pain.”

“God had different plans for me,” she continued. “He changed my destiny when my two youngest children, Bella and Anwar, were diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease in early 2012. Watching my babies struggle in silence in order to support me and my journey struck the deepest chord of hopelessness inside of me, and it’s because of them that I’m motivated to stand here in front of you today.”

“I don’t deserve this award,” Foster went of, referring to the Power of One trophy she was presented with at the gala. “This award is for Anwar and Bella. This is my token and my promise to you that I will not allow you to live a life of pain and suffering,” she said. “I will walk to the end of the earth to find a cure so that you can live a healthy life that you deserve. No child should suffer in the way that you do.”

Foster, 51, has been documenting her battle with Lyme disease as she travels across the country and around the globe to find a cure for the debilitating illness. She was forced to take a brief hiatus from blogging in late 2014 and into early 2015 after a symptom robbed her of the ability to read or write.

Foster’s latest move to help alleviate her symptoms was having her 20-year-old silicone breast implants removed in August.