How Michael J. Fox Stays Positive Amid a 'Tsunami of Misfortune'

Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox is "of the mind that anything you want to do you can do," despite obstacles that may be faced along the way.

In a new interview with Town & Country, where he serves as cover star of the publication's Nov. 2023 Heroes Issue, the Back to the Future actor opened up about how he maintains a positive attitude amid his battle with Parkinson's disease, which began in 1991 when he was 29 years old.

Though Fox has regularly acknowledged that he’s long into the journey—33 years to be exact—that he once referred to as the “gradual paring away of my physical self,” his outlook on life is nothing short of inspiring.

The degenerative condition kills most patients within 20 years of diagnosis, according to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and yet, here he is over a decade longer than that, having admitted he feels that "Parkinson’s is a gift. It’s the gift that keeps on taking, but it has changed my life in so many positive ways.”

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He calls himself a “tough son of a b**ch,” and there's simply no truer fact. Since 2018, the Family Ties alum has undergone major surgery for a spinal tumor unrelated to his Parkinson’s that threatened to paralyze him, broken both arms and a shoulder, smashed his orbital bone and cheek, and broken his hand. “My hand got infected and then I almost lost it,” he remembered, noting, “It was a tsunami of misfortune.” Not to mention, prior struggles with substance abuse and depression.

Still, through his myriad of medical and mental misadventures, a friend described him as being "bravery in motion," and Fox prioritizes his family—wife of 35 years, Tracy Pollan, and the couple's four now-adult children: son Sam, twins Aquinnah Kathleen and Schuyler Frances, and daughter Esmé Annabelle—over everything else.

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He may not be "physically well" in the traditional sense of the phrase, but is lucky to be alive, chronicling his ability to look on the bright side in his 2009 memoir, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist.

As co-founder of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research—which in its 23 years has funded nearly $2 billion in research—the retired actor has dedicated his life to bringing awareness to the disease. The work is something in which he finds great purpose, and he isn't afraid of an upcoming expiration date on his life.

“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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