TikToker Kyle Prue Reveals Lyme Disease Struggle: 'I Have Entire Organs That Are Non-Functioning'
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After people questioned the seriousness of Bella Hadid’s illness, Prue shared his own struggle, saying he has to take pills every day
Kyle Prue/TikTok
TikTok star Kyle Prue shared his struggle with Lyme Disease, which he says he was diagnosed with at age 17.Popular TikTok star Kyle Prue is sharing his struggle with Lyme disease, which he says drastically changed his life when he was diagnosed at age 17.
“I’ve been trying to make this video for a few days now, and I’ve been having a lot of trouble with it,” he said in a new TikTok Thursday. “I’ve been having a lot of trouble articulating myself, but I’m just going to barrel through right now.”
“It’s about something very important to me. I would like to talk about Lyme disease, and specifically the general conversation that’s been happening over the Internet about Lyme disease over the last few days.”
“I have been suffering from Lyme disease for the majority of my life,” Prue shared. “I have entire organs that are non-functioning because of it.”
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Although Prue declined to “get into all the ways in which it had affected my life,” he said “I will have to take pills every single day of my life — until I die — in order to compensate for that fact.”
Prue said he was inspired to come forward after model Bella Hadid shared her years-long struggle with Lyme — and “instead of this being met with sympathy, which I would expect, I have seen it met with a lot of vitriol and a lot of conspiracy speculation.”
Related: Bella Hadid Has Struggled With Lyme Disease — Here's What to Know About the Tick-Borne Illness
The actor — who created and stars in the YouTube series “Rabbit” and founded Sparking Literacy, a nonprofit that encourages teens to read and write — said he’s seen a lot of comments asking why celebrities have Lyme, or arguing against the seriousness of it.
He referenced one comment claiming that it’s treatable disease caused by a bug bite — meaning the black-legged tick, which transmits the bacteria causing the disease to humans when an infected one attaches itself to feed.
“I have heard it said that it’s a fake illness that rich people have made up to explain going to rehab or to cover up eating disorders,” Prue said. “Basically [people are] saying that Lyme disease does not actually really exist, at least not in the long-term sense. “
Prue said that when he was diagnosed as a teenager, “I wasn’t trying to cover anything up. I was just sick.”
Bella Hadid/Instagram
Bella Hadid has been sharing her struggle with Lyme disease.The CDC estimates that 476,000 people are diagnosed and treated for Lyme each year, making it the most common vector-borne (meaning, transmitted by the bite of a flea, mosquito, or tick) disease in the United States.
It can cause complications like Lyme arthritis (which can lead to permanent joint damage), Lyme carditis (which can require a pacemaker), and neurologic Lyme, where it spreads to the spinal cord and nerves.
Prue said that seeing content creators “punching down at sick people in the name of celebrity gossip? Man, it’s felt really f–ing horrible. And really alienating.”
He pointed out that the critics “have no medical degree, no training and have done literally no research.”
“It’s been very emotionally affecting.”
Related: CEO Shares Heartbreaking LinkedIn Post After Daughter Dies by Suicide Following Lyme Disease Battle
The video is a departure from the kind of content that Prue normally shares on TikTok, where his popular — and humorous — “How to Piss off Men” series helped him earn 1.2 million followers.
He shared that he’s never discussed his Lyme diagnosis because “I was really afraid about being a part of a conversation like this — a conversation where my experience would be belittled.”
And he had something to say to the content creators trading in conspiracy theories.
“I hope you feel blessed to have never been through this. I hope your content is worth it.”
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