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Actor Ashton Kutcher revealed his harrowing struggle with a rare disorder that very nearly killed him and rendered him unable to see or hear clearly for almost an entire year.
Kutcher discussed the rare autoimmune disorder vasculitis during an appearance on National Geographic's Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge.
Kutcher credited the adversity with giving him strength and resilience after Grylls mentioned he'd never met "a strong person who's had an easy road."
See the clip in which they discussed Kutcher's condition below.
As Grylls and Kutcher embarked on one of the survivalist's famously challenging excursions, Kutcher discussed his experience with vasculitis, a condition that causes blood vessels to swell.
He explained:
“Like, two years ago, I had a weird, super-rare form of vasculitis that knocked out my vision, knocked out my hearing and knocked out all my equilibrium. It took me like a year to build it all back up."
He went on to add how much the experience made him appreciate his abilities once they returned.
"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.’”
The condition often leads to thickened blood vessel walls, which restricts blood flow to vital organs and tissues—in Kutcher's case, his eyes and ears. Like many autoimmune diseases, the cause of the condition is unknown and it can be short- or long-lasting.
Kutcher also tweeted about the condition after conspiracy theorists began spreading rumors it was caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
\u201cBefore 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 hear, vision, balance issues right after. I fully recovered. All good. Moving on. See you at the 2022 NY Marathon w/Thorn\u201d— ashton kutcher (@ashton kutcher) 1660005535
In response, people on Twitter sent an outpouring of support and good wishes to Kutcher.
\u201cThat\u2019s so scary, going blind and deaf at the same time out of nowhere\u201d— Josh (@Josh) 1660017706
\u201c@HuffPost Fast and complete recovery to #AshtonKutcher! He has been a great philanthropic. @aplusk\u201d— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1660017622
\u201c@aplusk Love you friend \ud83d\udc97\u201d— ashton kutcher (@ashton kutcher) 1660005535
\u201c@FilmUpdates Glad he\u2019s recovered, sounds like an absolute nightmare\u2026\u201d— Film Updates (@Film Updates) 1659990821
\u201c@FilmUpdates I'm glad he's ok, he's one of my favorite actors.\u201d— Film Updates (@Film Updates) 1659990821
\u201c@aplusk I just watched the program on National Geographic, and what a real challenge for you. Was truly a challenge for you and so glad that you have been medically fine after what you went through a few years ago. Stay healthy and safe, I am a fan.\u201d— ashton kutcher (@ashton kutcher) 1660005535
\u201c@aplusk I\u2019m sorry to hear this! Glad you are better- hopefully you can be an advocate for Vasculitis patients like myself and the rest of the @VasculitisFound community\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffb\u201d— ashton kutcher (@ashton kutcher) 1660005535
\u201cGlad to see a celebrity like @aplusk speak about their experience with vasculitis. As someone who has head it myself for almost 6 years now, good to see some visibility.\u201d— Julia M\u00e9traux (@Julia M\u00e9traux) 1660057665
Difficult as it was, Kutcher credited the experience with changing his perspective on life.
“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."
"You start surfing on top of your problems instead of living underneath them.”
He also added that he's "lucky to be alive."