Ashton Kutcher Opens Up About Battle With Rare Autoimmune Disease

Published on August 9, 2022.

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

Ashton Kutcher has opened up and revealed that he’s “lucky to be alive” after battling a rare autoimmune disorder.

During a sneak peek at an upcoming episode of National Geographic’s Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, the actor opened up about his battle with a rare condition that prohibited his ability to walk, see or hear.

“Like two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis, that knocked out my vision, it knocked out my hearing, it knocked out like all my equilibrium,” Kutcher revealed in the clip. “It took me like a year to build it all back up.”

“You don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone,” he continued. “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.'”

According to MayoClinic, vasculitis is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the blood vessels, this can cause them to narrow which restricts blood flow and can damage organs and tissues. Symptoms may include weakness in hands and feet, loss of hearing, or temporary blindness.

Kutcher added that he’s “lucky to be alive” and has used the scare as a learning experience. “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 said. “You start surfing on top of your problems instead of living underneath them.