Supermodel Bella Hadid raised eyebrows after she shared a GoFundMe page for a friend who practices holistic healing. To say fans are polarised by the Palestinian beauty’s actions is putting it mildly.
The model has dealt with “chronic Lyme disease” since 2012 and recently revealed on Instagram that she had fully healed from her contentious battle with it after undergoing an “extensive holistic treatment.” She shared photos of her medical records and of her getting her blood cleaned with her dog, Beans, by her side.
In one Instagram caption, Hadid wrote: “If I had to go through all of this again, to get here, to this exact moment I’m in right now, with all of you, finally healthy, I would do it all again. It made me who I am today.
"I have so much gratitude for and perspective on life,” she continued. “This 100+ days of Lyme, chronic disease, co-infection treatment, almost 15 years of invisible suffering, was all worth it if I’m able to, God willing, have a lifetime of spreading love from a full cup."
Hadid has decided to spread the love by drawing awareness to the plights of others who suffer from Lyme disease just like she has for over a decade. On her Instagram story, the Versace muse shared a GoFundMe page for Tracy Piper, who Hadid described as her sister, angel, and mentor.
The self-described "Detox Specialist, Colon Therapist, Acupuncturist, [and] Massage Therapist" wrote: “I am asking for assistance to complete the purchase of our upstate New York location to continue helping people with health challenges find alternative & holistic ways to improve their health."
The Piper Retreat Center, according to the GoFundMe page, is a place where Piper’s clients “can relax and detox and experience remarkable changes in their health.” In her stories, Hadid referred to Piper as a “true healer” and revealed that she had “just donated”.
However, the GoFundMe page has since been taken down. A spokesperson for GoFundMe explained to Buzzfeed that they had “temporarily suspended” the fundraiser due to the fact that the website’s guidelines expressly prohibit fundraisers that “offer rewards or giveaways”.
While the company was quick to reassure that they were working with Piper to resolve the issue so that her page could be reinstated, many found the temporary suspension suspicious.
Sceptics were also quick to note that in the recent medical records, Hadid shared on Instagram, the model had made a visit to Himmunitas. There, she was treated by the controversial, Kenny De Meirleir, who in 2018 was tried and found guilty of illegally importing and administering the drug Nexavir in Belgium.
In Hadid’s file with Himmunitas, De Meirleir wrote: “She has been ill for more than 1 1/2 years now. She is extremely exhausted and depressed and does not attend school anymore. She feels ill all the time and has memory problems."
While it seems that Hadid has experimented with a wide variety of “holistic” therapies to get to the place she is today, her history with doctors like De Meirleir definitely raises not only eyebrows but questions as well.
