The Hollywood star Michael J. Fox of “Family Ties” and Back To The Future fame has been battling Parkinson’s disease for over 30 years, so he’s had quite a lot of time to think about his own mortality. After this decades-long battle, the 62 year-old star is opening up about why he no longer fears death.
Michael J Fox pic.twitter.com/spZFH9QCHa
— Lennon (@Lennon1496773) October 29, 2023
‘One Day I’ll Run Out Of Gas’
“One day I’ll run out of gas,” Fox told Town & Country. “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.”
When asked what he is afraid of, however, Fox replied, “Anything that would put my family in jeopardy.”
Fox has been married to his wife Tracey Pollan since 1988, and they share four adult children together: Sam, 34, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, 28, and Esmé, 22. Fox explained that he often has nightmares about falling into his wife or one of his children while walking in the street, and causing them to get hit by a bus.
Tracey Pollen & Michael J. Fox pic.twitter.com/sW7ly6Tpif
— Anthony Fitzpatrick (@KwizkingAnthony) October 13, 2019
Related: Michael J. Fox Gives Sad Update About His Health After Battling Parkinson’s For Over 30 Years
Fox’s Parkinson’s Battle
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease back in 1991 when he was only 29 years-old, and though divorce is common after such a diagnosis, Pollan has never left his side in the decades since then.
“Everybody says ‘in sickness and in health,’ but sometimes it’s not that easy,” said the couple’s longtime friend Cam Neely, the former hockey star and president of the Boston Bruins. “Everybody thinks about what Mike goes through, but one can only imagine what Tracy goes through. You can just tell how much she loves him, but one thing about Tracy, she’s a strong, tough woman, and doesn’t put up with any BS.”
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 would go 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 stood there naked in the town square and said, ‘Look at me. This is what it is,’” he recalled. “What I didn’t realize was how many other people had been dying to do that.”
In 2000, Fox founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has since raised over $1 billion for Parkinson’s research.
Michael J. Fox, the protagonist of “Back to the Future”, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 when he was only 29 years old. He was told to withdraw from the stage, but he did not cease to be an actor. #ALI pic.twitter.com/6ivkUdj9Er
— Ali✨ (@Shaik01ha) November 4, 2023
‘One Day At A Time’
Fox previously opened up about his own mortality in an interview with People Magazine back in May.
“I truly live one day at a time,” he said. “I live for each moment and I love each day The average age of death is 77. It’s not that far out on a limb.”
That being said, Fox is grateful for all that he’s been able to accomplish despite his diagnosis.
“If you told me when I was 29 when they just diagnosed it, that at 61 I’d still be going at it with a film to promote, that life would be so full, I never would have guessed it,” he said. “I’m cautiously optimistic, but mostly optimistic, not so much cautious, as my family would say.”
Watch Fox talk more about this in the video below.
We could all learn a lot from the resilience that Fox has shown throughout such a difficult decades-long health battle. Please join us in saying a prayer for Fox’s wellbeing in the years to come!
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