National

The world collectively applauds Michael J. Fox as he takes the stage with Coldplay

In a rare appearance, Michael J. Fox left his supporters in tears after taking the stage with Coldplay in Glastonbury.
In a rare appearance, Michael J. Fox left his supporters in tears after taking the stage with Coldplay in Glastonbury. Screengrab from BBC Music's YouTube Page

In a rare appearance, Michael J. Fox left his supporters in tears after taking the stage with Coldplay in Glastonbury.

In the video, Fox is seen sitting in a wheelchair with a guitar on his lap as Coldplay’s front man Chris Martin sang next to him.

Before you knew it, Fox is strumming the guitar as the rest of the band crowded around him. He appeared to be having the time of his life.

Fans are now marveling at the miracle that is Fox’s life. As it is known, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 33 years ago in 1991, a feat many people who are diagnosed with the degenerative disease don’t experience.

Currently, the actor is taking medication to “combat paralysis of facial muscles” which allows him the ability to talk still, Town & Country previously reported. However, the medication doesn’t come without its side effects, including dyskinesia, which is “involuntary movement and tics.”

But despite what Fox called the “gradual paring away” of his “physical self,” the broken bones, the tics, the surgeries, director Davis Guggenheim admitted that Fox’s life, including his outlook on life, was one he wished he had. “He has something that I wish I had,” Guggenheim admitted after spending time with Fox, according to the outlet.

And while Fox told the director to “be careful what you wish for,” Fox understood what Guggenheim meant. In fact, Fox himself will tell you that his Parkinson’s diagnosis “is a gift.”

“It’s very complicated. […] It’s the gift that keeps on taking, but it has changed my life in so many positive ways,” he told Town & Country

Now, he’s an inspiration to everyone who takes a moment to really listen to him and what he’s done with his life.

But the inspiring optimist he is today hasn’t been steady. Fox admits that there were moments throughout the “tsunami of misfortune” that left him with bouts of depression.

Yet, as he details the two broken arms, a broken shoulder, a smashed orbital bone and cheek, and a broken hand that “got infected and then I almost lost it,” he does so with pride.

And yet despite his optimism, Fox knows he’ll one day “run out of gas. 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.”

As Mamas Uncut previously reported, this isn’t the first time Michael J. Fox has been an open book about his life with Parkinson’s Disease. During an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Fox revealed that life “is getting tougher. Every day it’s tougher.”

Fox admits he believes he can see his future. And he admits he doesn’t think he will I’ve to see his 80th year.

“My life is set up so I can pack Parkinson’s along with me if I have to,” Fox told host Jane Pauley before she asked if Parkinson’s will “make the call at some point.” Fox heartbreakingly replied, saying, “Yeah, it’s banging on the door.”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m not gonna lie. It’s gettin’ hard, it’s gettin’ harder. It’s gettin’ tougher. Every day it’s tougher. That’s, that’s the way it is. I mean, you know, who do I see about that? …”

SV
Sara Vallone
Miami Herald
Sara Vallone is a content specialist working with McClatchy Media’s Trend Hunter and national content specialists team.
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