Michael J Fox has been commended for his ‘amazing attitude’ towards his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, which he regarded as a ‘gift’.
The actor, best known for his role in the popular Back To The Future film trilogy, was diagnosed with the long-term neurological illness at the age of 29 in 1991.
In 2000, he established The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, which says that Parkinson’s disease can cause “tremor, slowness, stiffness, walking, and balance problems,” with symptoms gradually deteriorating over time.
On Tuesday, February 6, the 62-year-old came on BBC Breakfast to discuss his illness and his 2023 documentary Still: A Michael J Fox Movie, which won four Emmys this year and is up for a Bafta.
Describing his condition as ‘hard’ and ‘a bit more than annoying’, Michael said: ‘It can be devastating for some people’.
He explained how his documentary tells ‘stories about resilience and hope’, as ‘an incurable optimist meets an incurable disease’, referring to the way in which he has approached his diagnosis for more than three decades.
What are the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease?
The NHS lists the three main symptoms of Parkinson’s as:
- Slow movement
- Inflexible and stiff muscles
- Involuntary tremors of particular parts of the body
Someone with Parkinson’s can also develop other symptoms, such as:
- Problems with memory
- Problems with balance
- Insomnia
- Depression and anxiety
- A loss of sense of smell
Parkinson’s disease is most commonly diagnosed in persons over the age of 50, although it can also affect younger people.
There is presently no cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Typically, treatment consists of medication, supportive therapy such as occupational therapy and physiotherapy, and, in certain situations, brain surgery.
In an interview with the BBC, Michael described how significant events in his life occurred in close proximity to one another, such as his marriage to Tracy Pollan in 1988, three years before his diagnosis.
The couple’s first child, a son named Ssam, was born in 1989, and his father died of a heart attack in 1990.
The actor described how he ‘experienced problems’ that he did not expect at the time, as well as the fact that he did not publicly declare his ailment until 1998, seven years after diagnosis.
‘I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t know how it was going to manifest, and I didn’t know what to expect. And no one could really tell me what to expect,’ he shared.
For 24 years, Michael has been helping to make a positive impact on the lives of people with Parkinson’s disease, with The Michael J Fox Foundation saying that it is ‘dedicated to finding a cure’.
The organisation has an ‘aggressively funded research agenda’, and is also ‘ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today’.
Michael described his Parkinson’s as a ‘gift’, as it allowed him to help others.
‘I would say it’s a gift. People would look at me and go, “It’s the gift that keeps on taking,” but it’s a gift,’ he said in the interview.
‘I realised I had to turn it into something and make it some positive thing that affected other people in a positive way. So I did, I started a foundation, but it took me a long time to get there.’
One woman called Sarah showered Michael with praise, writing on X: ‘What an incredible attitude from such a talented man. No self-pity, just an outpouring of positivity and an urge to do something for others. Total respect.’
Martin added: ‘Amazing guy,’ while a viewer called Clinton also wrote: ‘This dude 💖.’
BBC Breakfast airs every day from 6am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
