In a scary moment at a Back To The Future panel this weekend, fans saw firsthand the threats that actor Michael J. Fox faces just by walking, when the actor tripped and fell on stage. The moment startled the audience, but Fox immediately signaled that he was okay and proceeded with the rest of the event.
At the start of his appearance in Philadelphia on Sunday (June 4) at the Fan Expo, Fox — who has been open about his Parkinson’s battle since going public with his diagnosis in 1998— appeared to lose his footing as he walked to the stage to join fellow panelists Christopher Lloyd and Tom Wilson, The New York Post reports.
As he made a gesture to bow down to his co-stars in the film, he appeared to stumble, but fortunately his fall was broken by a couch that was on the stage.
Fox recovered quickly, jumping up to show that he was okay and uninjured, and the rest of the discussion proceeded without incident.
In the recent documentary Still: A Michael J Fox Movie, and in many of the interviews Fox gave to promote the film, the actor and advocate spoke at length about the ways that his Parkinson’s Disease has affected his health and physical abilities.
One of the biggest threats of Parkinson’s, the actor revealed in one interview, is falling down. For Fox, that threat, coupled with a spinal surgery, means that he’s at a greater risk for hurting himself even doing everyday things like walking.
“I had spinal surgery,” Fox said. “I had a tumor on my spine. And it was benign, but it messed up my walking. And then, started to break stuff… Broke this arm, and I broke this arm, I broke this elbow. I broke my face. I broke my hand.”