Ashton Kutcher reveals that ‘super rare’ disease took his hearing, vision and balance
Ashton Kutcher revealed that an autoimmune disorder took away his vision, hearing and ability to walk.
In a sneak peek of a new episode of “Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge,” obtained by Access Hollywood, Kutcher said he developed a rare autoimmune disorder called vasculitis, which can cause inflammation of the blood vessels.
“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 said.
“It took me like a year to build it all back up. You don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone.”
Kutcher added that he was “lucky to be alive,” while Grylls marveled at his strength.
Kutcher explained how he reframed the hardship as an opportunity to persevere and make the best of a bad situation.
“The minute you start seeing your obstacles as things that are made for you, to give you what you need, then life starts to get fun, right?” Kutcher explained.
“You start surfing on top of your problems instead of living underneath them.”
You can watch Kutcher’s episode of “Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge” at 9 p.m. PST on National Geographic.