Michael J Fox has given a heartbreaking update about his health, admitting life is getting 'harder'.
The 61-year-old star was diagnosed with Parkinson's in the early nineties when he was just 29. The condition affects the central nervous system and causes involuntary shaking.
Having battled the incurable disease for over 30 years, the Back to the Future actor says he’s ‘not gonna be 80’ as day-to-day life becomes ‘harder’ to cope with.
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Fox first became aware of his condition in 1991 while working on the set of rom-com Doc Hollywood alongside Woody Harrelson and Bridget Fonda.
At the time, the Emmy award-winner had started to display early symptoms such as a twitching finger and a sore shoulder.
It wasn’t until 1998 that the Stuart Little star revealed his devastating diagnosis and began raising millions of dollars for research after setting up a foundation.
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Over the years, Fox has continued to appear in countless TV shows including Scrubs, The Good Wife and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
He even still attends comic conventions, recently reuniting with his Back to the Future co-star Christopher Lloyd – who played the iconic Doc Brown in the nostalgic film series.
However, Fox has had to scale back his work and was even forced to retire in 2020 as his Parkinson’s affected his speech.
Although the actor hoped he would return to the small screen, it seems unlikely as his health has continued to decline in recent years.
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In a candid interview with CBS Sunday Morning, he said life was getting ‘harder’ to cope with every day and revealed that he’d also had surgery to remove a tumour from his spine.
He told the broadcaster: “[Parkinson's is] banging on the door. I’m not gonna lie. It’s gettin’ hard, it’s gettin’ harder. It’s gettin’ tougher. Every day it’s tougher. But, that’s the way it is.
“I mean, you know, who do I see about that? I had spinal surgery. I had a tumor on my spine. And it was benign, but it messed up my walking,” he confessed, adding: "And then, [I] started to break stuff. Broke this arm, and I broke this arm, I broke this elbow. I broke my face. I broke my hand.”
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During the heartbreaking interview, he revealed that his increasing frailness had made him think about the end of his life, worrying that he’d choke on his food due to the involuntary shakes.
Continuing, he said: “[That’s] a big killer with Parkinson’s. It’s falling … and aspirating food and getting pneumonia. All these subtle ways that get ya … You don’t die from Parkinson’s. You die with Parkinson’s. So I’ve been thinking about the mortality of it … I’m not gonna be 80. I’m not gonna be 80.”
Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Film and TV, Health
Katherine Sidnell