Anok Yai, the supermodel, has opened up about how a persistent cough and symptoms like chest pains and coughing up blood led her to a devastating health diagnosis, which temporarily put her modeling career on hold.
The 28-year-old, known for following in the footsteps of Naomi Campbell as the second Black model to open a Prada show, has graced the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Perfect, and Allure throughout her career.
Yai has walked the runway for top fashion houses such as Versace and Burberry and has appeared in campaigns for major brands like Nike and Tiffany & Co.
On Friday, December 19, she revealed on Instagram to her 3.3 million followers that she had to step back from her work due to ‘dealing with [a] silent battle’.
She posted a series of photos from her hospital bed, including one of her reading Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo.
In her caption, she wrote, “I incidentally found out I had a congenital defect overworking my heart and slowly destroying my lungs.”
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) states that congenital defects can lead to physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities, as well as other health concerns.
Research suggests that some congenital defects are more severe than others, and if not promptly detected and treated, they can be life-threatening or cause long-term health issues.
Although Yai was ‘asymptomatic for the majority of [her] life’, a nagging cough eventually led to other serious health issues.
She recounted, “[The cough] turned to chest pains, bouts of coughing up blood, then at times struggling to breathe.”
“I chose to work through this while trying to find the right doctor and the right time.
“I quickly realized there was never going to be a ‘right time’ —my health would continue to worsen.”
Despite thinking she could ‘outwork or outrun anything’, Yai noted that the universe has a ‘way of slowing you down and waking you up’.
The model, born in Egypt, revealed she underwent successful robotic lung surgery, a minimally invasive procedure where surgeons remove lung tissue or lymph nodes through small incisions.
She expressed her gratitude for the staff at the Beverly Hills Concierge Health Center for identifying her condition and thanked the doctors and ‘amazing nurses’ at NYU Langone Health.
Yai is now concentrating on her recovery and healing process.
She concluded her message by saying, “I’ll be back. See ya.”
The NICHD reports that approximately one in every 33 infants in the US is born with a major congenital anomaly.
These conditions can develop during any pregnancy, but factors like alcohol consumption, smoking, or a deficiency of folic acid can raise the risk.
Specific medications, such as thalidomide, and infections, like cytomegalovirus, a virus spread through body fluids, and toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection, can also increase the chance of developing these defects.
According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of congenital defects can include easily becoming short of breath during exercise, fainting, a bluish tint to the skin or lips, and swelling in the legs.