Michael J. Fox He was on the horns of the moon, being one of the most sought-after actors after the trilogy of “back to the future”, when a tremor in his little finger, while filming “Dr.Hollywood”, alerted him.
He was 29 years old and the Mecca of Cinema loved him. The producers were fighting over the boy who was ground gold for the bearer, because he could not only make science fiction films, but also dramas like “Sins of War”, under the direction of Oliver Stone and disposable stories like “Shenanigans of a Teenage Wolf”, but which translated into ticket sales.
Fox went to the doctor thinking it would be something minor. Maybe stress and nothing more. But the diagnosis was devastating at that moment: Parkinson’sin early start.
Little was known about the neourodegenerative disease. Until that moment, only the former world boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, had made his condition public and the media published photos and videos of the athlete without being able to control his entire body, although he still looked vigorous.
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Fox preferred to hide it. This is how he created films such as “My Dear President”, “Martians Attack” and the series “Spin City”, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for his role as mayor.
He also had two newborn daughters and wanted to protect them from scrutiny. But when he was in the third season of “Spin City,” he realized that he could no longer hide it and released it to the media.
Years later, in the documentary “Still,” the actor revealed how he felt upon receiving the medical diagnosis.
“How can I have an elderly person’s illness? I should have seen it coming. The cosmic price I had to pay for all my success,” Michael recalled.
Last year in an interview with “The Sunday Times”, the man born in Canada 64 years ago confessed that he would like to die now, after three decades of struggle.
Instagram of actor reallikejfox. Image shared on March 5.
“I would like to just not wake up one day. It would be great. I don’t want it to be dramatic. I don’t want to trip over furniture and hit my head. Over a period of three years I broke my elbow, my hand, I had a big infection in my hand and I almost lost a finger. I broke my other shoulder, they replaced it, I broke my cheekbone,” he detailed.
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In “Still,” Fox shows himself as he is. At some point he falls while the cameras are taking him, at another he walks with the help of a physiotherapist and his face looks beaten.
“You don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with it,” he says, considering that he will not reach 80 years of age.
The actor created the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research responsible for finding solutions to the disease and which has so far raised 2.5 billion dollars around the world. On his website he explains that Parkinson’s occurs when the brain cells that generate dopamine, a chemical used to coordinate movements, stop working or die.
Fox, although he does not hide moments of depression, does not lose his good humor. This is how he wrote the autobiography “Lucky Man” and “No time like the future”.
In 2010 “Always Looking Up” won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. Four years ago he received the Honorary Oscar and two years ago, he was chosen by “Time” magazine as one of the 100 people who are transforming the world.
“People tell me that I make them feel better, that I inspire them to do things that they would not do otherwise. And that is very powerful,” he emphasizes in the documentary.
Today Michael’s story takes on more strength, being the International Parkinson’s Disease Day, during which several countries, including Mexico, will illuminate historical monuments in blue, while patients, friends and family will march in the streets.
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