Weather 
Supermodel Anok Yai is opening up about her yearlong “silent” health battle.
“For the past year I’ve been dealing with this silent battle,” Yai, 28, wrote via Instagram on Friday, December 19. “I incidentally found out I had a congenital defect overworking my heart and slowly destroying my lungs.”
According to Yai, she had been “asymptomatic for the majority of my life” until a lingering cough led to other ailments.
“[The cough] turned to chest pains, bouts of coughing up blood, then at times struggling to breathe,” she recalled. “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.”
Yai continued, “I’ve always thought I could outwork or outrun anything but the universe has a way of slowing you down and waking you up. So, yesterday I had a successful robotic lung surgery thanks to Dr. Robert Cerfolio and his gracious and talented team who I am forever indebted to for giving me more time.”
A robotic thoracic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure designed to remove any diseased lung tissue or surrounding lymph nodes, according to the American Lung Association.
“I am forever grateful for Dr. Harmik Soukiasian and everyone at the @beverlyhillsconciergehealth for discovering my condition,” Yai added, thanking her medical team. “Thank you to all the doctors and amazing nurses at @nyulangone, and thank you to my friends and family for being the first thing I saw when I woke up.”
Yai is now in recovery.
“For now, I’m healing … but I’ll be back,” she concluded her Friday statement. “See ya.”
Many of Yai’s fellow modeling colleagues offered their support in the comments section.
“I love you so much,” Amelia Gray Hamlin replied. “The strongest soldier there ever was. You inspire me every day ❤️🔥.”
Winnie Harlow added, “God Bless you in your healing ❤️ God bless your family and all of your strength. Everything will be here waiting for you. Your health never waits, proud of you for putting you first.”
Heidi Klum, Iman, Alex Consani, Faretta Radic and more modeling icons also sent their best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Olivia Culpo, Julianne Hough and more stars have become fierce advocates for women’s health — especially when it comes to endometriosis. Endometriosis causes abnormal tissue growth in and around the uterus, and is one of the leading causes of infertility in women. The condition occurs in as many as 1 in 10 women, according to […]
Yai has been commanding catwalks since 2018, going on to win Model of the Year at the 2025 Fashion Awards earlier this month.
“I was told that I would be a flash-in-the-pan and that I would be crushed by the machine that is the fashion industry and my career would only last six months,” she said in her acceptance speech during the December 2 ceremony. “It’s been a long six months, huh?”
Yai further stressed that she’s since worked “twice as hard and taken twice as many risks” to make her mark in the industry.
“At the end of the day, I didn’t have anything to fall back on,” she continued. “I didn’t have parents in the industry [or] a trust fund to rely on. What I did have was a bloodline of resilience and strong-willed parents who sacrificed everything for my future. I am a refugee, and there’s nothing stronger than that.”
