Infection
Michael J Fox says he almost lost his hand to an infection in new interview
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Michael J Fox at an award ceremony earlier this year in Munich, Germany.
Michael J Fox has revealed he falls daily, has broken numerous bones and almost lost his hand to an infection in a new interview.
The Back to the Future Actor was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, aged 29.
Fox then revealed in his 2020 book, No Time Like the Future, that doctors found a spinal tumour that threatened to paralyse him in 2018.
It was unrelated to his Parkinson’s and he opted for surgery, which led to months of physical therapy to get back on his feet.
Speaking to Town & Country Magazine, in an interview released on Friday, the 62-year-old talked about how he tripped on a rare night alone in his apartment and broke his upper arm shortly after that.
It was an accident that Fox described as “nothing” compared to what he would experience in the years that followed.
He told the magazine he had since broken his other arm and shoulder, smashed his orbital bone and cheek, and broken his hand.
“My hand got infected and then I almost lost it,” Fox said.
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Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is now available to stream on Apple TV+.
“It was a tsunami of misfortune.”
The article said he often referred to himself as a “tough son of a bitch”, which was a trait reflected by his daily training to remain able to walk unassisted.
This was despite the damage he now faced from daily falls.
Town & Country Magazine asked if anything scared Fox. “Anything that would put my family in jeopardy,” he said.
He said he had nightmares about falling into his wife Tracy or one of the kids on the street, and them getting hit by a bus.
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Michael J Fox and his wife Tracy Pollan.
But there was no fear for himself or the future.
“One day I’ll run out of gas,” he said.
“One day I’ll just say, ‘It’s not going to happen. I’m not going out today.’ If that comes, I’ll allow myself that.
“I’m 62 years old. Certainly, if I were to pass away tomorrow, it would be premature, but it wouldn’t be unheard of. And so, no, I don’t fear that.”
Fox’s documentary Still: A Michael J Fox Movie was also released in May. It recounts his life from childhood, to success in Hollywood, and his battle with Parkinson’s.
