"When my two youngest children, Bella and Anwar, were diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease in early 2012, watching my babies struggle in silence in order to support me in my journey, struck the deepest core of hopelessness inside of me," the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star said Thursday night of daughter Bella Hadid, 18, and Anwar Hadid, 16, at the Global Lyme Alliance inaugural gala.
Foster, who was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012, was surrounded by family and friends – including Bella, Anwar, daughter Gigi, husband David Foster, her mother and Gigi's boyfriend Joe Jonas – when she accepted the "Power of One" award in New York, reports People.
And her eldest daughter even had the honor of introducing her mother.
"I remember when she was going into the first season of filming, she said to me, 'I don't know why this show was brought to my life, but for some reason, I think it will lead to something bigger,'" Gigi, 20, said onstage. "She realized that she could use this platform of this world-famous television show to spread awareness. She was honest, unapologetic, and raw in how she portrayed Lyme disease on social media and on the show from the second she announced to the world she had been diagnosed."
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