http://www.foxnews.com/
Facing Parkinson's Disease, Michael J. Fox Counts His Blessings
7.36 a.m. ET (1236 GMT) December 3, 1998
By Bill Hoffmann
NEW YORK — An upbeat Michael J. Fox believes he'll be cured of
Parkinson's disease — and insists he wouldn't trade places with anybody.
"My life is so filled with positives, so filled with blessings, and so
filled with things I wouldn't trade for anything in the world," Fox
says in a 20/20 interview to air Friday night.
The good-guy actor stunned the world last week by revealing he secretly
has battled the crippling — currently incurable — nerve disease for
seven years.
The startling admission has brought thousands of phone calls, get-well
cards and e-mail messages from heartsick fans around the world.
But the 37-year-old star of the ABC sitcom Spin City says he doesn't
feel sorry for himself and will never give up.
Fox tells interviewer Barbara Walters he's optimistic scientists will
find a cure for Parkinson's and he'll be free of the illness by the time
he reaches 50.
"I just feel like I've been in God's pocket for so long, I just didn't
think that I was going to be hammered with this," Fox says of his
positive attitude.
"[I felt] that I would find a way to live with it, to learn from it and
deal with it — and I have."
Fox also says he refuses to consider his condition — which typically
strikes people over 60 — to be a tragedy.
"No, not by any stretch of the imagination. It's my life," he says.
Fox said the symptoms of Parkinson's sometime affect him so severely his
hands shake uncontrollably. He's had to alert cameramen on his series to
keep from focusing on his hands.
Last spring he had brain surgery to relieve some of the symptoms and may
have to go back for another operation.
The actor — who also starred in the '80s sitcom Family Ties and the Back
to the Future movies — has insisted he'll continue to work on Spin City
for as long as possible.
Meanwhile, the National Parkinson Foundation hopes Fox will help raise
money to find a cure by becoming their spokesman.
Abraham Lieberman, the foundation's medical director, has asked the star
to "lend your energy and your spirit and your good ideas to us."
A spokesman for Fox said he has not received any formal offer, but may
mull the possibility of a role with the group.
If Fox were to work with the nonprofit organization, it could bring in
untold millions in donations to the usually overlooked group, foundation
officials said.
That could lead to a cure or at least a greater understanding of what
causes Parkinson's, which attacks the central nervous system.
The disease is not hereditary and can strike at any age, although it
usually hits older people.
The previous celebrity spokesman for the group was boxing legend
Muhammad Ali, who did public-service announcements and interviews about
his battle with the disease.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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