Michael J. Fox has been battling with his health for many years and the Hollywood actor has shared some heartbreaking comments about his condition.
The Back To The Future star has suffered from a number of injuries due to his Parkinson’s disease, which was confirmed back in 1991 aged just 29.
The neurological disorder results in stiffness and shakiness with difficulty coordinating and it also worsens over time.
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It causes parts of the brain to become damaged over the years and the main symptoms are tremors, slow movement and inflexible muscles.
Parkinson’s affects roughly 500,000 Americans according to the National Institutes of Health.
However, experts have also claimed that up to one million may be living with the disease undiagnosed.
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Fox spoke to Variety about his struggles and opened up on his battle with the disease while revealing the injuries he has sustained.
He said: “I broke this shoulder, had it replaced. I broke this elbow. I broke this hand. I had an infection that almost cost me this finger. I broke my face. I broke this humerus.”
The Back To The Future star has admitted that it has been difficult to manage the illness.
(Image: Getty Images for ReedPop)
Throughout his life, he has struggled with his mental health and has had to deal with many personal losses.
In his daily life, Michael requires a lot of assistance to ensure that he doesn’t injure himself further.
He said: “I have aides around me quite a bit of the time in case I fall, and that lack of privacy is hard to deal with. I lost family members, I lost my dog, I lost my freedom, I lost health. I hesitate to use the term ‘depression’ because I’m not qualified to diagnose myself, but all the signs were there.”
(Image: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
Despite his struggles, Michael has received a lot of care and support from his loved ones and said he is “enjoying the math problems of existence”.
He said that “his problem is that he falls down, trips over things and breaks things”.
Fox joked that he “hopes he won’t break as many bones tomorrow” and is remaining optimistic about the future.
Michael has been living with the disease for over 30 years and said it “sucks”.
(Image: Getty Images for ReedPop)
The actor has raised a lot of money for research toward the disease after realising the area was underfunded.
His nonprofit, Michael J. Fox Foundation, was founded in 2000 and has raised a whopping $1.5 billion for Parkinson’s research.
Sadly, Michael retired from acting back in 2020 after realising he was struggling to learn lines.
However, he hasn’t turned his back on the industry completely – Fox is set to star in a documentary about his life.
(Image: Ouzounova / SplashNews.com)
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie will focus on his career, sobriety, Parkinson’s and his hope for the future.
In his Variety interview, Fox explained: “No matter how much I sit here and talk to you about how I’ve philosophically accepted it and taken its weight, Parkinson’s is still kicking my ass. I won’t win at this. I will lose, but there’s plenty to be gained in the loss.”
In a heartbreaking comment, Michael previously said that he “won’t be 80” and that he “won’t die from Parkinson’s, but will die with it”.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
