MISS UNIVERSE AUSTRALIA LAURA DUNDOVIC REVEALS GRUELLING DETAILS OF TREATING HER RARE GENETIC DISORDER AS SHE HAS TWO LITRES OF BLOOD DRAINED
Laura Dundovic has revealed the difficult process she undergoes to treat her rare genetic illness.
The model and former Miss Universe Australia winner, 36, suffers from haemochromatosis - a genetic disorder in which the body absorbs too much iron from the person's diet.
In an Instagram post, Laura gave fans a glimpse at the process of getting her blood drained to treat the illness to lower her iron levels, which is called venesection.
'Two litres today. Just had my fourth and hopefully final month of venesection before I can start donating every three months' she wrote.
'Will get my results next week so will update you all then.'
She added: 'For those who are new here, I have a genetic disorder called haemochromatosis where my body stores too much iron so I have to do this to bring my levels back to normal.'
Dundovic, who also starred on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, earlier said she was relieved to be finally getting her health in check after years of struggling with the disorder.
'I'm finally getting an understanding of my body so I have felt really good the last few months,' she said.
'It has been two years of confusion and then a year of work as it takes a while to find what is wrong. For two years it was just symptoms that no one can really group together but this last year has been really moving forward.'
She undergoes the procedure every few months to get rid of the excess iron.
To get a better handle on things, she recently started getting monthly venesections during which 500mls of blood is drained from her body.
'I've had it since I was 16, I store too much iron. It stores in your organs and your body goes into iron overload,' she told The Daily Telegraph.
Laura earlier revealed why 2023 was the worst year of her life.
She told Sunday Confidential she had spent the past 12 months battling multiple health issues and even discovered she is suffering from a genetic disorder.
'At the beginning of the year I had a fall in Bali and needed eight weeks for that injury to heal. Then that healed and I broke my toe,' she told the publication.
Things went from bad to worse when Laura was training for a marathon and tripped over on the footpath.
'It turned out I had a broken ankle. That ended up being three months of healing.'
Laura, who also suffered a car accident when her vehicle was side-swiped by a bus, was then diagnosed with Hashimoto's, an auto-immune disease that can affects the thyroid gland.
Now with 2023 behind her, Laura said she is optimistic about what 2024 will bring.
'I will really look after myself. I am a perfectionist so I want to really make sure my priority is my mental health and looking after that,' she said.
She also told the publication she is hoping to find love in 2024 following her shock split from footy star Quade Cooper in 2020.
The couple were dating for five years before their breakup, and had been 'on and off' for months before deciding to call it quits, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Since shooting to fame in the pageant world, Laura has maintained her position in the public eye by appearing on television shows including I'm A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! and Dating In The Dark.
She is also a successful influencer and is known as one of Sydney's most glamorous socialites.
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