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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Tina Campbell

Michael J Fox gives health update as actor who has Parkinson’s ‘struggles’ with multiple broken bones

Michael J Fox has admitted that the past year has been a “struggle” after suffering numerous broken bones, along with the death of his mother.

The Back To The Future actor, 61, was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991 when he was 29.

Parkinson’s is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years, according to the NHS website.

The three main symptoms of the condition are involuntary shaking, known as tremors, slow movement, and stiff and inflexible muscles.

Fox has since dedicated his life to raising awareness and funds for research into the condition.

Michael J Fox has dedicated his life to raising awareness and funds for research in toParkinson’s since being diagnosed aged 29 (Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Michael J. Fox Foundation)

Opening up in a new interview with People magazine, he said that his health had got “worse” over the past year.

He explained: “It got worse, I broke my cheek, then my hand, then my shoulder, had a replacement shoulder put in, and broke my (right) arm, then I broke my elbow.

“I’m 61 years old, and I’m feeling it a little bit more,” he added.

The Spin City star, who officially retired from acting in 2020, also touched on the death of his beloved mother Phyllis, who died aged 92 in September.

He hailed his late parent as “spectacular” for her resilience as a military wife, who raised him and his four siblings while his dad, William, served in the Canadian forces.

Michael J Fox recently reunited with Back To The Future co-star Christopher Lloyd at New York’s Comic Con (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

“It’s been a struggle, but I’m happy,” he told the US news outlet.

“I say that because I hope, on some level, people can find happiness in spite of what they’re going through.”

Earlier this month, Fox delighted fans by making an appearance at New York’s Comic Con, where he was reunited with his BackTo The Future co-star Christopher Lloyd, 84.

This was a personal victory for him as he was able to walk onto the stage unaided. Fox described how it is a mission not to fall down now, whether that means by using a walker, a wheelchair, a cane, or “a guy with a belt around my waist holding onto it”.

Fox and Lloyd starred in all of the movies of the time-travelling trilogy, playing the characters of Marty McFly and Doc Brown respectively.

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