Hollywood star Michael J. Fox from “Family Ties” and Back to the future famously battled Parkinson’s disease for over 30 years, so he’s had plenty of time to reflect on his own mortality. After this decades-long battle, the 62-year-old star explains why he is no longer afraid of death.
Michael Fox pic.twitter.com/spZFH9QCHa
-Lennon (@Lennon1496773) October 29, 2023
“One day I will run out of gas”
“One day I’ll run out of gas,” Fox said. Town and country. “One day I’ll just say, ‘That’s not going to happen.’ I’m not going out today. If that happens, I will allow myself to do so. I am 62 years old. Sure, if I died tomorrow it would be premature, but it wouldn’t be uncommon. And so no, I’m not afraid of that.
When asked what he was afraid of, Fox replied, “Anything that would put my family in danger.” »
Fox has been married to his wife Tracey Pollan since 1988 and they share four adult children: Sam, 34, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, 28, and Esmé, 22. Fox explained that he often has nightmares where he falls in love with his wife or someone else. of his children while he was walking down the street and they were hit by a bus.
Tracey Pollen and Michael J. Fox pic.twitter.com/sW7ly6Tpif
-Anthony Fitzpatrick (@KwizkingAnthony) October 13, 2019
Fox’s battle with Parkinson’s disease
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, when he was just 29, and although divorce was common after such a diagnosis, Pollan never left his side in the decades that followed .
“Everyone says ‘in sickness and in health,’ but sometimes it’s not that simple,” said Cam Neely, the couple’s longtime friend, former hockey star and president of the Boston Bruins. “Everyone thinks about what Mike is going through, but we can only imagine what Tracy is going through. You can just tell how much she loves him, but one thing about Tracy, she’s a strong, tough woman, and she doesn’t put up with any bullshit.
Congratulations on your 30th anniversary Michael J Fox and Tracey Pollan @realmikefox @PollanFamily pic.twitter.com/Aa33kzTj8I
– HargiHero💙💚 (@HargiHero) July 17, 2018
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Fox went public with his diagnosis in 1998 after learning that the National Enquirer was preparing to expose his health battle to the world.
“When I went public, I felt like I was standing there naked in the town square and saying, ‘Look at me. It is what it is,” he recalls. “What I didn’t realize was how many other people were dying to do this.”
In 2000, Fox founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has since raised over a billion dollars for research into Parkinson’s disease.
Michael J. Fox, the protagonist of “Back to the Future,” was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, when he was just 29 years old. He was told to retire from performing, but he didn’t stop acting. #ALI pic.twitter.com/6ivkUdj9Er
– Ali✨ (@Shaik01ha) November 4, 2023
‘One day at a time’
Fox previously spoke about his own mortality in an interview with People Magazine in May.
“I really live one day at a time,” he said. “I live for every moment and love every day. The average age of death is 77. It’s not that far away.”
That being said, Fox is grateful for everything he has been able to accomplish despite his diagnosis.
“If you had told me, when I was 29, when I was just diagnosed, that at 61, I would still be throwing myself into it with a film to promote, that life would be so full, I would never have guessed it,” he said. “I’m cautiously optimistic, but mostly optimistic, not so cautious, as my family would say.”
Watch Fox talk more about it in the video below.
We could all learn a lot from the resilience Fox has shown throughout such a difficult, decades-long health battle. Join us in saying a prayer for Fox’s well-being in the years to come!
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