The actor Ashton Kutcher has opened out about his struggle with a rare ailment that left him unable to see or speak.
The actor claimed that it struck him out of the blue and had a profound effect on his day-to-day activities.
Watch him discuss the scare in this video:
On the Paramount+ docuseries The Checkup with Dr. David Agus, the 44-year-old actor, best known for his work in movies like Dude, Where’s My Car?, The Butterfly Effect, and Two and a Half Men, opened up about having a rare form of vasculitis.
“I woke up one day and was having vision issues [and] could hardly see,” he said.
“[It] knocked out my hearing, which threw off my equilibrium, my balance and I couldn’t walk. I had vasculitis, that you’re very well aware of.
“There’s a standard you become accustomed to in your life, like, being able to see clearly. And then suddenly, you can’t see.”
When the immune system targets healthy blood vessels, it results in vascular inflammation, or vasculitis.
According to the NHS, the cause is frequently unknown, but symptoms can range from a minor issue that only affects the skin to a more serious illness that affects organs like the heart or kidneys.
Kutcher continued: “Then you’re like, ‘Why are you not f***ing talking louder, ’cause I can’t hear you?’
“You want to reclaim the health that you once had.”
Thankfully, Kutcher has regained his previous level of health.
On National Geographic’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls, he earlier disclosed his vasculitis diagnosis, and in a following tweet in August, he made it clear that he had totally recovered.
He wrote: “Before there are a bunch of rumors/ chatter/ whatever out there. Yes, I had a rare vasculitis episode 3yrs ago. (Autoimmune flair up)
“I had some impairments hearing, vision, balance issues right after. I fully recovered. All good. Moving on.”
He told Grylls that he was lucky to survive the scare.
“Like two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis that, like, knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out, like, all my equilibrium,” he recalled.
“It took me like a year to build it all back up.”
He added: “You don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone.
“Until you go, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to see again, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to hear again, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to walk again.’
“[I’m] lucky to be alive.”
