'Pity is just another form of abuse': Michael J Fox says he doesn't want sympathy

 
'Happy talk': Michael J Fox deals with his illness with positive thinking
Bang
7 October 2013
The Weekender

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The Back to the Future star was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at the tender age of 30; but Michael J Fox has said he can't stand being pitied.

The 52-year-old actor was diagnosed with the illness - which causes degeneration of the nervous system - at the age of 30 and was told he would be lucky if could still work when he was 40.

Although the disease has had a huge impact on the quality of his life, he insists he's learned to live with it and would hate for people to feel sorry for him.

Fox said: "Because of all the things I've done, nobody pities me, and that's great. I couldn't stand it. Pity is just another form of abuse."

The Back to the Future star - who is married to Tracy Pollan and has four children, Sam, 24, 18-year-old twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, and 11-year-old Esmé - prefers to accept his illness rather than worry about it because he has learned to maintain a positive attitude in the face of difficulty.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, he explained: "You get what you get and you don't get upset. It is what it is. All my happy talk and rah-rah cheering, that's as real as someone else's anger. I chose not to choose anger."

The award-winning actor set up the Michael J Fox Foundation to help other Parkinson's disease sufferers - who include Muhammad Ali and Billy Connolly - and he is currently back on TV screens in The Michael J Fox Show, a comedy series loosely based on his life.

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