After a year of many broken bones, Michael J. Fox says he has one mission: ‘Don’t fall’

Michael J. Fox has revealed new details about a tumultuous year of health issues as he continues to battle Parkinson’s disease. In the cover interview for People magazineFox shared that the past year has been filled with personal loss and a series of broken bones.

Known for his roles as Alex Keaton in the sitcom Family Ties and Marty McFly in the Back to the Future franchise. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 when he was 29 years old. Seven years later, he went public with his diagnosis and has been active and vocal about the disease ever since. He started The Michael J. Foundation Fox in 2000, which has since become “the world’s largest non-profit foundation for Parkinson’s drug development,” according to the foundation’s website.

In his memoirs of 2020 “No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Counts Mortality”, Fox, now 61, said 2018 was the worst year of his life, according to People magazine, as he had a tumor removed during spinal surgery and broke his left arm. But last year, he told People, “it got worse.”

His mother, Phyllis, died in September, and the last months have been filled with a series of broken bones and injuries.

“I broke my cheek, then my arm, then my shoulder, I had a new shoulder put in and I broke [right] arm, then I broke my elbow,” he said. “I’m 61 and I feel it a little bit more.”

When he broke his arm, he said he also got an infection after the surgery. Not being able to use his arm made it difficult for him to keep his balance, which led to more falls and injuries, he said.

But now, he said, “I’m walking through the place where the last injuries are healing; my arm feels good.”

“The whole mission is, ‘Don’t fall,'” he told People. “So anything that works to keep me from falling, whether it’s a walker or a wheelchair, a cane, a guy with a belt around my waist holding on to it, — I use all these tools.”

And this mission is going well. Just a few weeks ago, Fox reunited with his Back to the Future co-star Christopher Lloyd. New York Comic Con – and successfully stood and went to greet him. He could do it mostly unaided.

“I’m just getting to where I’m walking steadily again,” Fox told People. “I think it’s cool to walk alone. That’s right. It’s fantastic.”

Despite the turmoil of the past year, Fox told the magazine that he still finds joy.

“It’s been a struggle, but I’m happy,” he told People. “I say this because I hope that on some level people can find happiness despite what they’re going through.”

Lee Cohen

Lee Cohen is a social media producer and popular reporter for CBS News who focuses on social justice issues.