Sharon Stone says she has “become more comfortable talking publicly about what really happened to me”, more than 20 years after she nearly died from a medical incident.
In 2001, the actress was given a 1 percent chance of survival after a ruptured vertebral artery left her brain bleeding for nine days. In that time, Stone, 65, has thrived both professionally and personally. She received her first Oscar nomination casino five years before. And months before that, she adopted a son, Roan, now 23, with her then-husband, newspaper editor Phil Bronstein. (She has since adopted two more children: sons Laird, 18, and Quinn, 17.)
“For a long time I wanted to pretend I was fine,” Stone says. “I need eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for my brain meds to work and for me to not have seizures. So I employ a disabled person and that’s why I don’t get hired very often. These are the things I’ve been doing for the last 22 years and now I open about it.”
After the incident, Stone went through a dark period: her marriage fell apart (she and Bronstein divorced in 2004), and Hollywood, she says, stopped contacting her.
Sharon Stone says only her dad came to her rescue after she nearly died: ‘Don’t come to Hollywood’ (Exclusive)
Recalling her initial recovery process, Stone says she “stuttered” in the early stages and couldn’t “see right.” She says she also suffered from memory loss for a long time.
“I lost everything,” she says. “I lost all my money. I lost custody of my child. I lost my career. I lost all those things that you think are your true identity and your life.”
“I’ve never really gotten much of it,” she adds, “but I’ve gotten to a point where it doesn’t bother me, where I really recognize that I’m enough.”
Sharon Stone and Dr. Michael Lawton of the Barrow Neurological Institute.
Brandon Sullivan
Sharon Stone says only her dad came to her rescue after she nearly died: ‘Don’t come to Hollywood’ (Exclusive)
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When asked how she found the courage to share her story, Stone explains, “I come from a very broken family. I grew up believing that taking care of everyone else was what I was supposed to do. It took me a long time to realize that I had my own life and I didn’t I have to fix it for everyone else, and that it’s okay to get care, that I’m enough as a disabled person. I’m proud of myself and proud of my accomplishments — from surviving to helping others survive.”
Today, Stone is on the board of the Barrow Neurological Foundation, which supports a medical institute run by Stone’s brain surgeon Dr. Michael Lawton in Arizona, and is hosting its annual Neuro Night fundraiser on Oct. 27. According to the website, the Foundation’s mission is “to save human lives through innovative treatment, groundbreaking, curative research and the education of the next generation of the world’s leading neuroclinicians.”
“She’s an inspiration to those who suffer from anything neurological,” says Lawton, whom Stone credits with saving her life.
For more on Stone, pick up this week’s issue PEOPLEon newsstands on Friday.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education