Emmy winner reveals he nearly lost a hand amid health crisis

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Michael J. Fox's health has been top of mind since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991. But a few years ago, he suffered a "tsunami of misfortune" surrounding a different health issue: He was nearly paralyzed, broke his arm and almost lost a hand, he told Town & Country in an interview that debuted online on Nov. 2.

Click through to read about his health struggles, his thoughts on death and more…

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Back in 2018, Michael J. Fox underwent spinal cord surgery to remove a benign tumor that was unrelated to his Parkinson's. The tumor had threatened to paralyze him. 

Things didn't get easier from there, though. During his four-month rehabilitation, the "Back to the Future" icon fell in his kitchen one night and broke his arm.

The actor — who always managed to turn lemons into lemonade in his younger years — recalled being in pain on the kitchen floor and saying, "F*** lemonade. I'm out of the lemonade business."

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Since that kitchen fall — which he now says was "nothing" — Michael J. Fox has broken his other arm and shoulder, smashed his orbital bone and cheek and broken his hand.

"My hand got infected and then I almost lost it," he told Town & Country. "It was a tsunami of misfortune."

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When he was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991, Michael J. Fox was told that most patients with the incurable degenerative disease die within 20 years. MJF has defied the odds. When his time does come, though, he won't be afraid.

"One day I'll run out of gas," he said. "One day I'll just say, 'It's not going to happen. I'm not going out today.' If that comes, I'll allow myself that. I'm 62 years old. Certainly, if I were to pass away tomorrow, it would be premature, but it wouldn't be unheard of. And so, no, I don't fear that."

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In 2000, Michael J. Fox started the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. His goal was to raise money to help scientists find a cure. Town & Country reports the foundation brought in $199 million in private donations in 2020 and the next year funded $233 million in grants. In the spring of 2023, a study funded primarily by MJF's foundation reported that Parkinson's can now be detected in living people.

"When I was diagnosed, it was like a drunk driving test," Michael said. "Now we can say, 'You have this protein, and we know that you have Parkinson's.' It opens the gates for pharmaceutical companies to come in and say, 'We've got a target and we're going to dump money into it,' and when they dump money into it, good things happen."