The creator of The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin has revealed he suffered a stroke in November last year.
The screenwriter, 61, confessed that doctors told him his blood pressure was so high he was "supposed to be dead". He claims that this was the reason behind the incident.
However, he is still here to tell the tale and explained how the medical episode happened while he was writing his new Broadway musical Camelot.
He revealed how he first had symptoms of a stroke in the middle of the night when he walked into a wall and spilled his juice while he was in his office at home.
Aaron explained how following the stroke he has been left without the ability to taste food and confessed he slurred his words for approximately a month after the episode.
He also said it was only recently that he regained the ability to sign his name.
Speaking to the New York Times he said: "Mostly it was a loud wake-up call. I thought I was one of those people who could eat whatever he wanted, smoke as much as he wanted, and it’s not going to affect me. Boy, was I wrong."
He continued to say he has now quit smoking, which he claimed had always been essential to his writing process since his school days.
Other big changes to his lifestyle include eating healthier and exercising twice a day. He also is on medication, joking "you can hear the pills rattling around in me".
His new lifestyle has led to him lose weight, but he also knows he has been fortunate enough to continue his career following the scary episode.
Aaron added: "There was a minute when I was concerned that I was never going to be able to write again and I was concerned in the short-term that I wasn’t going to be able to continue writing Camelot."
The writer admitted the main reason he opened up in the interview about his medical emergency is because he wants it to act as a cautionary tale to others.
"If it’ll get one person to stop smoking, then it’ll be helpful," he said.
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