Gigi Hadid voices guilt about family's health struggles

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Gigi Hadid is sharing her guilt about her family's ongoing health issues.

The 23-year-old model discussed mom Yolanda Foster, sister Bella Hadid and brother Anwar Hadid's battle with Lyme disease in the March issue of Elle.

"Growing up, having three of my family members sick made me very independent," Gigi told the magazine. "My mom couldn't drive or get out of bed somedays, so I took my brother to school with me, or I made lunch."

"But I also felt a lot of guilt for being the one person in the family who didn't understand what they were going through," she said. "It's hard when your whole family is in pain and you don't know what to do."

Yolanda shared her struggle with Lyme disease in her 2017 memoir, Believe Me, telling fans she once considered suicide due to the pain of the condition. Bella said in an interview with ES Magazine in November 2015 that her illness interfered with her dream of becoming an Olympic equestrian.

"It affected my memory so I suddenly wouldn't remember how to drive to Santa Monica from Malibu where I lived," the model said. "I couldn't ride. I was just too sick. And I had to sell my horse because I couldn't take care of it."

Gigi herself was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease, a thyroid condition, in her late teens. She discussed her experience with the disease in the interview with Elle.

"It means you have an underactive thyroid," the star explained. "Most people get Hashimoto's when they are middle-aged. I got it very early."

"In high school, I had a lot of water retention," she recalled. "Even after extra workouts, I had bloat that wouldn't go away. And I was always tired. That was tough."