After screening his documentary, STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie, at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Michael J. Fox provided a heartbreaking update on his Parkinson’s disease battle.
The 61-year-old, who was joined by his wife, Tracy Pollan, said that while “Parkinson’s sucks,” he “doesn’t have time to feel sorry for himself” as he navigates life with his neurological ailment diagnosed in 1991.
“Parkinson’s sucks, but it’s a great life, so thank you for that,” he remarked in a Q&A on Tuesday. “Pity is a non-violent type of maltreatment. I could weep myself, but I don’t have time for that.”
“There is something to be learned from this, so let’s get it done and move on.”
“I have no regrets,” Michael said of his choice to retire from acting in 2020 owing to his worsening health. “You do what needs to be done but don’t want to kill yourself. And that’s when I came to a halt.”
Michael was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 29. The actor had only recently married his wife, whom he met on Family Ties in the 1980s.
Michael previously told CBS Mornings that learning he had Parkinson’s disease was a difficult and painful reality.
“She got this dumped on her pretty early in the marriage. And the last time we sobbed about it was when I informed her I was realizing,” he said.
“We haven’t cried in years about Parkinson’s. We just dealt with it and went about our lives. But we cried about it the first time,” Michael recounted to Nate Burleson, the show’s presenter.
After retiring from acting, the actor has raised over $1 billion for Parkinson’s research through his foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation.
There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease at the moment. Still, therapies are available to relieve symptoms and maintain a higher quality of life for people diagnosed.
