Ashton Kutcher opened up more about his life-threatening battle with the autoimmune disease vasculitis and praised supportive wife Mila Kunis. During an appearance on the new Paramount+ series The Checkup with Dr. David Agus, Ashton said he’s “close” to having normal vision and hearing again.
Ashton was privately diagnosed with a rare form of vasculitis in Nov. 2019.
“I woke up one day and was having vision issues, could hardly see. Knocked out my hearing, which threw off my equilibrium, my balance and I couldn’t walk and I had vasculitis,” the 44-year-old actor recalled to Agus, who is his doctor.
Vasculitis involves inflammation of the blood vessels, according to Mayo Clinic. The condition can be short term or long lasting. Ashton said he was motivated “to reclaim the health” he once had after dealing with the serious illness.
“Part of it is this mental thing I have around achieving a full comeback from waking up at the hospital. I was unable to walk, and I was like, ‘Wait a second, if I can go from not being able to walk to running a marathon in a three-year span, then I can let that be a part of the past and be like, I’m back. I’m good,'” the That ’70s Show star explained. He completed the New York City Marathon last month.
Ashton’s said watching his twin brother, Michael Kutcher, come “face to face with death” gave him an “appreciation for life” at a young age. Michael, who joined the show later on for a rare joint interview, has cerebral palsy and nearly died as a kid after contracting viral myocarditis, which enlarged his heart. Both situations make Ashton think about life through a certain lens: “What are you doing with today?”
“The values of where I’m spending time, which tends to be with my kids, is probably the biggest shift that took place,” Ashton said of the last three years. He shares daughter Wyatt, 8, and son Dimitri, 6, with Kunis.
Agus witnessed Kutcher’s health scare three years ago and remarked how amazing it is to see the actor “today compared to what it was” in 2019. The physician revealed that Ashton’s eyesight and hearing is now “very close to normal.”
“Close,” Ashton agreed.
“I will say your wife was amazing,” Agus added, noting Kunis was “curled up by [Ashton’s] side” throughout the ordeal.
“My wife is the best,” Ashton stated.
MORE: Ashton Kutcher says he’s “all good” after recovering from rare autoimmune diagnosis
