“To everyone affected by Lyme, I want to tell you that there is HOPE,” Avril Lavigne said
Avril Lavigne is reaching out to Justin Bieber with support.
The 35-year-old rocker offered her fellow Canadian singer some words of encouragement on Instagram Thursday, after news of Bieber’s Lyme disease diagnosis was made public.
“Today @JustinBieber shared that he has Lyme disease. There are too many people that have this debilitating disease! People I love and care about and many friends and fans I have crossed paths with,” Lavigne wrote along with information about the symptoms and signs of Lyme from her Avril Lavigne Foundation.
“To everyone affected by Lyme, I want to tell you that there is HOPE. Because Lyme is a daily struggle, for the better part of two years, I was really sick and fighting for my life,” she added.
Lavigne exclusively revealed to PEOPLE in an April 2015 cover story that she had been quietly suffering from Lyme disease after disappearing from the public eye in fall 2014. While on tour, she began feeling weak, but doctors at first cited dehydration and exhaustion. Months later — as her symptoms worsened and she struggled to even move — she visited a Lyme specialist who diagnosed her with the disease, a bacterial infection contracted from a tick bite that causes symptoms ranging from moderate fatigue and muscle pain to debilitating dementia.
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Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic; Gotham/GC Images
“It is a global pandemic but NOT a global priority. I never want others to suffer the way that I did, and because of that it is now my mission to raise awareness & funds that will help eradicate this life-altering disease,” Lavigne wrote on her post, on which actress Evan Rachel Wood commented: “I had it as a child. Its brutal and I still suffer symptoms. Thank you for spreading awareness. There needs to be more research for this disease.”
Bieber’s wife Hailey Baldwin thanked Lavigne on Twitter Thursday. “Sending so much love to @AvrilLavigne thank you for all you do to educate people about Lyme. You’re amazing,” the model tweeted.
The “Yummy” singer opened up about the disease on Instagram, revealing that he had been keeping the illness a secret.
“While a lot of people kept saying justin Bieber looks like s—, on meth etc. they failed to realize I’ve been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my, skin, brain function, energy, and overall health,” he said.
Bieber is set to discuss Lyme disease more in his upcoming 10-part YouTube docu-series, Justin Bieber: Seasons.
From Avril Lavigne to Yolanda Hadid: Celebrities Who’ve Gone Public About Battling Lyme Disease
“These things will be explained further in a docu series I’m putting on YouTube shortly.. you can learn all that I’ve been battling and OVERCOMING!!” he said. “It’s been a rough couple years but getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever NO CAP.”
In the docu-series, manager Scooter Braun tells fan: “He’s taken a very long break and in that time, he’s found his wife, he’s grown a lot, and he’s ready to express himself through music again. No one’s ever grown up in the history of humanity like Justin Bieber.”
The first episode of Justin Bieber: Seasons airs Jan. 27 on YouTube at 12:00 p.m. EST. The episodes will air on Mondays and Wednesdays.
