Supermodel Anok Yai Reveals Her Struggle with a Genetic Disorder that Slowly Destroys Her Body

JAKARTA - Supermodel Anok Yai finally opened up about the serious health struggles she has been facing in silence. The 28-year-old runway model revealed that she was diagnosed with a congenital disorder from birth that slowly had a negative impact on her body condition.

The supermodel, who was recently named Model of the Year 2025 by the Fashion Awards, said the abnormality made her heart work too hard and gradually damaged her lungs.

"For the past year, I have been fighting this silent battle. I accidentally found out that I have a congenital disorder that makes my heart work too much and slowly destroys my lungs," wrote Anok accompanied by a photo and video upload from the hospital, quoted from the Daily Mail website.

He explained that the condition initially almost did not show symptoms, before finally developing into a serious problem.

"What for most of my life did not show symptoms, turned into a prolonged cough, then chest pain, several times coughing up blood, sometimes having difficulty breathing," he continued.

Anok admitted that he had always felt able to overcome fatigue and any challenges, but the condition was a harsh reminder for him.

"I always thought I could beat anything with hard work or running faster. But the universe has its own way of slowing us down and waking us up," he said.

The Sudanese-born model then admitted that he had just undergone a major procedure and was grateful that the operation went well.

"Yesterday I had a successful robotic lung surgery. Thank you to Dr. Robert Cerfolio and his amazing team. I will be forever indebted to them for giving me more time," he wrote.

Robotic thoracic surgery itself is a minimally invasive procedure used to remove diseased lung tissue along with the surrounding lymph nodes, as explained by the American Lung Association.

Anok also expressed his gratitude to the doctors who first discovered the condition before it became more dangerous.

"I am so grateful to Dr. Harmik Soukiasian and the entire team at Beverly Hills Concierge Health for finding this condition. Thank you also to the amazing doctors and nurses at NYU Langone. And thank you to my friends and family who are the first thing I see when I wake up," he wrote.

Even though he is in the recovery period, Anok insists that he will not stop for too long.

"For now I'm focused on recovering but I'll be back. See you," he said.

The admission about his health comes just months after a controversial moment in his career. In December 2024, Anok asked the British Fashion Awards not to nominate him in the future after losing the Model of the Year category to transgender model Alex Consani.

The American model who was born in Egypt and grew up in New Hampshire had once expressed her feelings through an upload on X, which was later deleted. In her story, she felt tired of dealing with the dynamics of the fashion industry today.

In that year, the list of nominees also included Alva Claire, Amelia Gray, Liu Wen, and Mona Tougaard with Consani eventually coming out on top.