Alex Carson
During the mid-2000s, there were few names in the entertainment industry that held as much promise as Ashton Kutcher’s. However, not much is seen from the That 70’s Show actor today. Many people might not realize that the reason that Ashton has stepped out of the spotlight in recent years is because he has been suffering from a serious autoimmune condition. Join Facts Verse as we explore how Ashton Kutcher put his career on hold during health scare.
Ashton Kutcher Has Been Suffering Severely
In the summer of 2022, Ashton Kutcher came out publicly with some big news. Not much had been seen from the actor in a while, and fans were starting to grow suspicious. As it turns out, there was a very good reason for the actor stepping out of the spotlight. Several years before, he had been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition that left him unable to walk. The condition that plagued Ashton is known as “vasculitis”. In addition to leaving the actor unable to walk, the condition also left him unable to see and hear.
After receiving the diagnosis, Ashton Kutcher didn’t want to make a big deal about it. However, the actor was most certainly scared. By the time the actor publicly announced that he was suffering from vasculitis, he was already well on his way towards recovering from it. Ashton’s public announcement of his vasculitis came via an episode of the television series Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge. The show airs on the National Geographic channel, and it proved the perfect vessel for Ashton to tell his story. At the time that the actor appeared on the program, he had been suffering from vasculitis for around two years.
At the height of Ashton Kutcher’s suffering, the actor was essentially paralyzed. However, by the time that he appeared on Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, he was much closer to being his normal self. In the episode of the show on which Ashton appeared, he shared with the audience that it took him around an entire year to start noticeably recovering from his autoimmune condition. Ashton gave the fight everything he had, and he came out on top! Now, it’s slowly but surely looking as if the actor is ready to get back out in the spotlight, and he’s even ran a marathon!
Losing His Faculties Made Ashton More Appreciative
According to Ashton Kutcher, losing the abilities to see, hear, and talk was something that changed his outlook on life a great deal. Prior to the incident, Ashton had taken all of his faculties for granted. Now, the actor has a newfound appreciation for the simple things in life, which include his basic motor functions. Vasculitis is a condition that is rare, but not unheard of. The condition causes swelling in the blood vessels, and this swelling can lead to serious issues.
Vasculitis may have done a pretty good job of knocking Ashton Kutcher out, but it couldn’t keep the That 70’s Show star down for good! Today, it seems as if Ashton has essentially made a full recovery from the formerly debilitating autoimmune disorder. When it comes to how much the actor has recovered, Ashton is simply asking fans to take his word for it. Instead, Ashton recently proved how much progress he has made with a grand gesture. This grand gesture saw the actor running the New York City Marathon. The New York City Marathon is an annual marathon that occurs every November in New York City. Ashton being able to run the marathon a mere three years after being diagnoses with a serious case of vasculitis is certainly pretty impressive!
Ashton Kutcher ran the New York City Marathon in November of 2022, which is a mere few months after the actor publicly revealed his vasculitis diagnosis via Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge. It seems that the actor didn’t want his fans to worry about him, and wanted to stay out of the public spotlight until he was sure that his vasculitis was a thing of the past. Though Ashton running in the marathon sent an inspiring message out to the actor’s fans, the actor first and foremost ran the marathon for himself. According to Ashton, running in the New York City Marathon just three years after finding himself unable to walk was all that he needed to prove to himself that his vasculitis was over and one with. A month or so after running in the marathon, Ashton made another appearance on reality television to discuss his further recovery. This time, the appearance was on The Checkup with Dr. David Agus.
Ashton Has a Celebrity Doctor on His Side
For those that have never heard of Dr. Davis Agus, he’s a celebrity doctor who specializes in cancer treatment. Dr. Davis Agus is Ashton Kutcher’s doctor, but that’s not the only reason that he’s a big deal in Hollywood. On December 5 of 2022, Dr. Davis Agus premiered his very own show on the Paramount+ streaming network. That show is The Checkup with Dr. David Agus, and Ashton Kutcher appeared in one of it’s first episodes. Since Dr. Davis Agus is Ashton’s actual doctor, the actor’s appearance wasn’t too surprising.
Besides Dr. Davis Agus, another person that has helped Ashton Kutcher out a great deal when it comes to his recovery from vasculitis is his wife. Ashton has been married two times over the course of his life. Everyone will likely remember Ashton’s first marriage, as it made for excellent tabloid fodder. Around the height of the actor’s initial period of fame, he married Demi Moore. It was a May-December romance, as Demi was a good deal older than the much younger television star. However, it still appeared from the outside looking in that the two were madly in love. Despite appearances, Ashton and Demi divorced in 2013.
After divorcing from Demi Moore in 2013, Ashton Kutcher went on to marry one of his former That 70’s Show costars in 2015. That former costar is Mila Kunis, whom Ashton has been happily married to ever since. According to Ashton, he wouldn’t have been able to recover from his vasculitis without the ever-enduring love of his wife. Ashton is now 44 years old, while Mila Kunis is 39. The two played love interest on That 70’s Show. Infamously, Mila Kunis lied to the producers of the series about her age. When Mila Kunis was hired to play Ashton’s love interest on That 70’s Show, she was only 14 years old. The age gap between Ashton and Mila is nothing compared to the age gap between Ashton and his first wife, as Demi Moore is now 60 years old.
Ashton’s Brother Suffers from Cerebral Palsy
When Ashton Kutcher appeared on The Checkup with Dr. David Agus, he wasn’t alone. In addition to speaking about his own recovery from vasculitis, Ashton also used his appearance on the show to introduce the world to his brother. Ashton’s brother is a man by the name of Michael. Though they have an incredibly close bond, there have been time periods over the years where they felt as if they were never going to speak again. Michael Kutcher suffers from cerebral palsy, which is something that has caused medical problems for the man over the course of his entre life.
Though Ashton and Michael Kutcher have had their problems over the years, they’ve generally been very close. Via their appearance on The Checkup with Dr. David Agus, the two brothers shared many traumatic memories that had helped them bond over the years. On once instance, Michael nearly passed away after his heart stopped while Ashton was visiting him in the intensive care unit. Ashton was worried that his brother was going to die, and he considered committing suicide in order to ensure that his brother had a donor heart. Thankfully, Michael ended up getting a transplant heart without Ashton having to kill himself.
Cerebral palsy has been something that has affected Michael Kutcher for his entire life. According to Ashton, he used to feel bad for his brother. However, he stopped feeling bad for him at his brother’s own request. Michael has never wanted Ashton’s pity, and he doesn’t like attention being called to his cerebral palsy. For the most part, Ashton and Michael have gotten along swimmingly over the course of their lives. Still, there have been periods where they refused to talk to one another. The first period came about as a result of Ashton Kutcher’s That 70’s Show fame. When Ashton started becoming a celebrity, his brother got jealous.
Things Seem to Be Going Good for the Kutchers!
It didn’t take long for Michael Kutcher to get over his jealousy and welcome his brother back into his life, fame and all. However, this wasn’t the last of the bad blood between the two. Once Michael was back in Ashton’s life, Ashton couldn’t contain his excitement. He started talking about his and his brother’s relationship in the media, and this included spilling the beans about Michael’s cerebral palsy. Michael kept his cerebral palsy a secret from the greater public, and he had no intention of his brother revealing it to the entire world.
According to Ashton Kutcher, he had no idea that his brother Michael was trying to keep his cerebral palsy under wraps. Ashton apologized to his brother profusely after the incident, and it seems that the two brothers are on better terms now than ever before. Now that Ashton has overcome a major health scare himself, it seems that the actor likely has more empathy for his brother than he did previously. Likewise, Michael has likely realized that Ashton has faults of his own and isn’t some flawless person that he should be jealous of.
Vasculitis has killed people in the past, including the late Harold Ramis. The Caddyshack director passed away from the condition at the age of 69. With his recent running of the New York City Marathon, it appears that there’s no chance Ashton will end up following in Harold’s footsteps. In addition to being a major health victory for the actor, his running in the marathon also raised around a million dollars for his charitable organization. Ashton is the found of the organization Thorn, which fights against sex trafficking.
Ashton Kutcher hasn’t been seen much lately due to a serious autoimmune condition, but it appears that he’s made a full recovery and is ready to come back out in the spotlight! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Ashton Kutcher was almost paralyzed a few years ago, but now he’s back to running marathons? Comment down below!
