FOX - FOX DICED WITH DEATH IN BHUTAN

FOX DICED WITH DEATH IN BHUTAN

MICHAEL J. FOX almost lost his life and a finger while shooting a new documentary about optimism in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan - after falling down a mountain.
The actor travelled to the tiny nation, dubbed the happiest place on earth, to discover if the region deserved its cheery reputation.
Fox was stunned to discover his Parkinson's Disease symptoms were eased in the high altitude state - which sits at 11,000 feet (3,352 metres) above sea level.
He says, "It turned out great for me. My Parkinson's symptoms were much less at that altitude, to the extent that I was taking much less medication, and having fewer side effects to the medication. So I was bopping around and hopping through the rice paddies."
But he admits he got carried away with his burst of health, and almost tumbled off a cliff.
The 47-year-old explains, "There was this monastery up in a cliff. You had to hike up to it. Because I was feeling so good, I thought, yeah I can climb up there. We hiked up to this place. I was feeling so good and so cocky about how great I felt and about how I could climb up there. I started to walk down the mountain, and five minutes down I started to wipe out. I just started running and I couldn't stop.
"I was going, 'I'm going to die. I'm not a yak. I can't stop.' I had to throw myself to ground before I reached the cliff. I cut my arm up and cut my ring finger badly.
"On the way back we stopped in Kathmandu and I saw a doctor, and he said, 'If we don't get this ring off, you're going to lose your finger.'
"So I went to a hospital in Delhi and they couldn't get the ring off. There were 15 doctors with bone saws and knives and explosives, and they couldn't get it off.
"It took the janitor to get it off with his industrial strength tool."