Ashton Kutcher says he’s “lucky to be alive” after a rare disease affected his ability to see, hear and walk.
The Two and a Half Men actor opened up about his struggle with vasculitis, a condition that involves inflammation of blood vessels, in an interview with Bear Grylls that aired on Monday night.
In the episode, Grylls asks Kutcher, 44, where his strength comes from.
Kutcher replies, “Two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis that, like, I lost my vision.
“It blew my ear off. It knocked out, like, my whole balance.”
He told Grylls that it took him about a year to regain those skills.
“You don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone, until you say, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again, I don’t know if I’ll ever hear again, I don’t know if I’ll ever walk again,'” she said .
Kutcher also tweeted overnight, confirming that he had “made a full recovery” from the episode.
What is vasculitis and what are the effects?
Vasculitis means inflammation of blood vessels.
Inflammation is your immune system’s natural response to injury or infection.
It causes swelling and can help the body deal with invading germs.
However, in vasculitis, the immune system attacks healthy blood vessels, causing them to swell and narrow, according to the NHS.
This can be caused by an infection or medication, but the cause is often unknown.
Vasculitis can range from a minor problem that only affects the skin, to a more serious condition that causes problems with organs such as the heart or kidneys.
Kutcher, who rose to fame on the comedy series That ’70s Show, has been in the news this year for his campaign on behalf of Ukraine alongside his wife Mila Kunis.
In March, he and Kunis – who was born in western Ukraine – held a video call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the leader thanked them for their multibillion-dollar fundraising efforts to help those fleeing the war-ravaged country. war