Anok Yai underwent a “difficult, life-saving procedure” after developing sepsis shortly after undergoing lung surgery, Page Six can exclusively reveal.
A source tells us the 28-year-old supermodel was rushed to the hospital on Sunday and treated for sepsis.
Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency that happens when someone’s body’s overactive response to an infection damages vital organs and can lead to death, according to the Sepsis Alliance.
We’re told Yai is currently on the mend and expected to make a full recovery.
In mid-December, she underwent robotic lung surgery after being diagnosed with a congenital defect that had been overworking her heart and slowly destroying her lungs.
It’s unclear whether the operation led to the sepsis, but that is a common complication referred to as postoperative sepsis.
Following her “successful” operation, Yai took to Instagram to detail the “silent battle” she had been experiencing “for the past year.”
“What started as something asymptomatic for the majority of my life turned into a lingering cough, which turned to chest pains, bouts of coughing up blood, then at times struggling to breathe,” she explained, admitting that she “chose to work through this.”
However, she quickly learned that “the universe has a way of slowing you down and waking you up.”
Yai thanked Dr. Robert Cerfolio as well as “his gracious and talented team” for performing the minimally invasive thoracic surgery and “giving [her] more time.”
She also expressed gratitude to Dr. Harmik Soukiasian and everyone at Beverly Hills Concierge Health “for discovering [her] condition,” adding a shout-out to the “amazing” medical staff at NYU Langone Health.
After thanking her loved ones for their support and attentiveness, she concluded, “For now I’m healing … but I’ll be back. See ya ❤️.”
Reps for Yai did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
