Michael J. Fox, a Parkinson’s patient, described the preceding year as a “battle” because of his numerous broken bones.
The Hollywood star also discussed how his mother’s death affected him, but he remains optimistic.
The 62-year-old Back to the Future star, diagnosed with the condition in 1991, has since raised funds and awareness for research into the disease.
Fox described how his health problems “worsened” over the last year and how his recovery is developing in a recent interview.
“I fractured my cheek, then my hand, then my shoulder, had a replacement shoulder put in, shattered my (right) arm, then broke my elbow,” he told the US outlet.
“I’m 62 years old, and I’m feeling it a little bit more,” he added.
Parkinson’s disease, according to the NHS website, is a condition in which parts of the brain gradually degenerate over time.
The three primary symptoms of the condition are tremors, delayed movement, and tight and inflexible muscles. Tremors are involuntary movements of certain bodily parts.
The illness affects Fox’s movement, but many people who know him believe this does not necessarily signify that the disease progresses faster.
“I was never a grumpy man, but I was impatient and short with people,” the actor explained, describing how a series of maladies had changed his otherwise positive disposition.
I stopped it before it started. “I never forget the people I work with.”
And I often tell them, “Imagine I said ‘please’ at the start of whatever I say and ‘thank you’ at the end.” I regret for not saying that if I had been more serious.
Following his retirement in 2020, the former actor stated that he is now “coming through” as the last of his wounds heal.”
I’m just getting back into a regular walking routine. I enjoy going for walks by myself. It is. “It’s incredible,” he continued.
Using a walker, wheelchair, cane, or “a guy with a belt around my waist hanging onto it,” his goal at this point is to avoid falling over.
He achieved this goal earlier this month when he appeared on stage with his Back to the Future co-star Christopher Lloyd, 84, in front of a cheering crowd of fans at New York Comic-Con.
Fox also remembered her late mother, Phyllis Fox, who died in September at the age of 92.
He called his mother “amazing,” saying he now appreciates her strength as a military spouse who raised Fox and his four siblings when his father, William, was in the Canadian military.
“I’m happy,” he said after this terrible moment. It’s been not easy, but I’m getting there.
“I say it because I believe that people can find happiness despite their circumstances to some extent,”
The former actor, who later married actress Tracy Pollan and had four children with her, said that they had to learn to adapt their marriage to accommodate his sickness but always “assume the best” about each other.
Fox launched The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000, according to People magazine, and it has raised more than $1.5 billion for research funding.
He will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar recognizing remarkable charitable efforts.
He is currently working on a documentary for Apple+ that will, in his words, analyze him and his “various perspectives on my life.”
