Hailey Baldwin has opened up about the pressures of having a health scare around the same time as Justin Bieber, who experienced a facial paralysis shortly after his wife was hospitalised for a stroke.
During a recent interview with Good Morning America, the 25-year-old model addressed how she and and her 28-year-old husband had health challenges within a few months of each other, as she was hospitalised last March and had a procedure done to close a hole in her heart.
According to Baldwin, their experiences allowed them to both be “upfront” about what was going on in their lives, especially since their experiences were heavily publicised.
“Going through it very publicly, in front of a lot of people,” she said. “It kind of, in a way, forces you to have to be upfront about what’s going on, so people understand what you’re going through. And I actually think it opened up a lot of important and amazing conversation.”
Baldwin also acknowledged how there was a “silver lining” to her and Bieber’s health conditions, as it brought them “a lot closer” together.
“Going through this together, you’re being there for each other and supporting each other and there’s just something that really bonds you through these times,” she said. “So that’s what I think is the silver lining in these crazy times.”
Regarding how her own recovery, Baldwin said that while she was “doing well now,” it took her some time “feel like normal” again.
“I’m just giving my body the time to heal and recover,” she said. “It was a little hard for me to recover from the procedure, just giving myself the time to work out again and feel like normal.”
“But I’m doing well now,” she continued. “And I’m not going to be on any medication anymore, so I feel good.”
Elsewhere in the interview, she explained that her husband was doing well, after he recently shared that he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
“He is getting better every single day,” she explained. “He’s feeling a lot better. And obviously it was just a very scary, random situation to happen, but he’s going to be totally OK.”
“I’m just grateful that he’s fine,” she added, before addressing how Bieber has received an immense amount of support from his fans and loved ones.
“The support has been really amazing, just from friends, fans, family,” she said. “Every single person has sent well wishes, advice, recommendations. It’s been really amazing.”
Earlier this week, the Peaches singer revealed that he was experiencing “full paralysis” on the right side of his face, as a result of a virus.
As he announced why he’d been cancelling his shows, Bieber posted a video to Instagram explaining some of the symptoms he’s had due to Ramsay Hunt syndrome, noting he was “not [physically] capable of” performing.
“As you can see this eye is not blinking,” he said. “I can’t smile on this side of my face, this nostril will not move, so there’s full paralysis on this side of my face.”
“This is pretty serious as you can see. I wish this wasn’t the case, but obviously, my body’s telling me that I gotta slow down,” he added. “I hope you guys understand and I’ll be using this time to just rest and relax and get back to 100 per cent so that I can do what I was born to do.”
He also reassured his fans that he was going to get better and was “doing facial exercises to get [his] face back to normal”. Although he acknowledged that his face “will go back to normal,” he didn’t know how “much time” it would take to do so.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Ramsay Hunt syndrome is caused by chickenpox and can “affect the facial nerve near one of your ears”. Along with facial paralysis, symptoms can include “a painful red rash with fluid-filled blisters on, in and around one ear”.
