Sarah Hyland posts Instagram photo for her ‘Invisible Illness Warriors’ to Encourage Body Acceptance

Sarah Hyland posted a photo of herself that she “hated” to encourage her fans to celebrate and be accepting of their bodies.

“To my fellow #invisibleillness warriors,” the Modern Family star wrote on Instagram Saturday, sharing an image of herself wearing a sports bra with a jacket and sweat pants. “It’s ok to be insecure about your body. Just remember to check in with yourself at least once a day and say thank you. Our bodies have endured unfathomable feats that our minds barely have time to comprehend what has actually happened. With inflammation, excess water gain, and medications, my skin has a hard time bouncing back.”  The 28-year-old continued, “I saw this picture and HATED it but quickly readjusted my attitude and decided to celebrate it. Love yourself and be patient. We are all stronger than we think we are.”

Hyland, who is engaged to The Bachelorette alum Wells Adams, was born with kidney dysplasia, which means the kidneys don’t develop as they should. According to a Self interview, in 2012, the star went into kidney failure, prompting Hyland’s father to give her his own. However, in 2016, her body rejected the donation.  “When you have an organ transplant, it’s basically a foreign thing in your body,” Hyand told Self . “Your immune system will want to attack it and be like, ‘What is this?  This is not supposed to be here.’”

The star was put on dialysis (a machine that filters blood for the kidneys) and eventually received a second kidney transplant, this time from her younger brother.

Hyland has also shared that surgeries and medication to treat her kidney disease and endometriosis, a condition that causes the uterine lining to grow outside of the uterus, made some of her hair fall out. As a result, the actress told Refinery29 in an interview last April, that she wore extensions in her hair to play her Modern Family character Haley Dunphy.

On her recent Instagram post, Hyland’s fans responded positively to the image. “You are amazing! I need a kidney transplant and have already had two heart transplants. I was super upset when I got the news but look at you and I know everything will be ok,” someone wrote.  Hyland, who is the new face of the “clean” beauty brand No B.S., often shares health stories with the hashtag #showyourscars.

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Photo Credit:  Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com