More than 25 years after he went public with his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, Michael J. Fox is opening up about exceeding his doctor’s expectations.
The 62-year-old actor was first diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s at just 30 years of age in 1991, when he was filming Doc Hollywood.
He first went public with his diagnosis in 1998, where he revealed his doctors were, ‘hopeful that Fox will be functional for at least another 10 years and maybe well into old age.’
Now more than 25 years later, Fox is still thriving, revealing to People that he has always believed in himself.
‘What I believed then and what I believe now, I might not put it in the same words, but you can do anything. Anything,’ Fox said.
‘You don’t have to follow other people’s prognostications for what life is going to be. Life’s going to be what you make it,’ he continued.
More than 25 years after he went public with his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, Michael J. Fox is opening up about exceeding his doctor’s expectations
The 62-year-old actor was first diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s at just 30 years of age in 1991, when he was filming Doc Hollywood
Two years after going public with his diagnosis, Fox created The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000.
Since then, the foundation – which he founded with his wife of 36 years, Tracy Pollan – has raised over $2 billion for Parkinson’s research.
The foundation even made a breakthrough in 2023, with research funded by the foundation discovering a biomarker that can determine if someone has Parkinson’s before symptoms arise, which Fox was incredibly proud of.
‘It was one of the few times I cried about what we were doing. We wanted to find a way that we can diagnose the disease before the symptoms are there,’ he said.
‘Because then we could treat it, and you’d never have it. It was a big break — and a great moment,’ he admitted.
He first went public in 1998 with an exclusive interview with People, admitting he was ‘really nervous’ about putting it all out there.
‘I didn’t want to put it out there, but, given the nature of Parkinson’s, it was going to become evident sooner or later,’ Fox admitted.
‘Todd Gold [the reporter] was really good. He said, “How can I tell this story, get the most out of it for you, get the most out of it for Parkinson’s” —which I hadn’t thought about yet, what impact it would have on the community?’ Fox said.
Since then, the foundation – which he founded with his wife of 36 years, Tracy Pollan – has raised over $2 billion for Parkinson’s research
The foundation even made a breakthrough in 2023, with research funded by the foundation discovering a biomarker that can determine if someone has Parkinson’s before symptoms arise, which Fox was incredibly proud of
‘It was an amazing time because the response was great. The response was loving and supportive, and I really couldn’t have been… It was a payoff for all the stuff I’d done through the years,’ he said.
‘I’m proud that I had the courage to talk about this, and to be out there with it,’ he said, adding the publication, ‘took it seriously and treated it with a sense of gravitas and importance. Because it’s really — it, not me — changed the world a little bit,’ he said.
‘With the help of family, with the help of people that I work with, I’ve been able to meet those challenges and go beyond them and do new things,’ he added.
‘And the whole thing is just keep having new experiences, whether it’s experiences that push forward, what we’re trying to do and our mission with foundation,’ he said.
