‘I won’t be 80’: Michael J Fox describes struggles with Parkinson’s

Back to the Future star Michael J Fox described Parkinson’s as a “gift that keeps on taking” in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, in which he described his struggles with the illness.

The 61-year-old activist and former Hollywood actor was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease a year after Back to the Future Part III was released in 1990.

Fox told interviewer Jane Pauley: “It sucks, having Parkinson’s ... It’s getting tougher, it’s getting harder, every day you suffer but that’s the way it is.”

The condition causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over many years. The three main symptoms are involuntary shaking of parts of the body, known as tremors, slow movement, and stiff and inflexible muscles.

Fox said that he has had a string of injuries from falling, including breaking bones in his face and other parts of his body, along with a benign tumour on his spine. He added: “All these subtle ways that get you, you don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with (the condition). I’m not going to be 80. I won’t be 80.”

He added: “I recognise how hard this is for people and recognise how hard it is for me but I have a certain set of skills that allow me to deal with this stuff and I realise, with gratitude, optimism is sustainable. If you can find something to be grateful for then you find something to look forward to and you carry on.”

Fox founded the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000 which has raised more than $1.75bn (£1.39bn) for research funding, according to the charity’s website. The foundation also sponsored a study, published in April, that says researchers have discovered a biomarker for Parkinson’s.

Fox said: “This changes everything. I know where we are right now. In five years, they will be able tell if you have it, they will be able to tell if you’re ever going to get it and we’ll know how to treat it.”

The actor, who has four children with his wife Tracy Pollan, retired in 2020. He was honoured at the Governors awards with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian award, an honorary Oscar recognising outstanding philanthropic efforts in November and is to release an Apple TV+ documentary Still: A Michael J Fox Movie.