The title of Actress Sharon Stone’s book “The Beauty of Living Twice” is rather profound as it’s essentially true. She almost died from a stroke in 2001. She had to reinvent herself following her recovery.
The Basic Instinct star thought she was going to die during her nine day long cerebral hemorrhage which happened just two weeks after 9/11.
When Stone was 43, she suffered from a ruptured vertebral artery.
From Brain & Life, Stone was at her home in San Francisco, when she experienced what she describes as:
… a “lightning bolt” to the head so painfully shocking that it knocked her to the carpet, where she lay unconscious. After an unknown amount of time, she came to on the other side of the sofa and shakily rose to her feet. She had a throbbing headache and felt confused.
Stone remembers that in her confused state, she didn’t think to call 911. She didn’t end up in the emergency department until 72 hours after the onset of her symptoms.
She discusses her book, recovery, and what she’s doing now an interview with Willie Geist on Today. Stone even likens herself to Princess Diana and how people were “brutally unkind” to her.
Sharon Stone’s Experience From a Stroke
When Stone was in the hospital, the silence from those trying to help her signaled just how serious her condition was. She was near death.
“The room was so silent,” the actress turned author recalled. “When the room is so silent and no one’s running around trying to fix you, that’s when you realize how near death is and how serious everything is.”
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Stone also had what she believes was an after life experience. She remembers seeing the reported bright light and others who had passed away. She felt like she was falling.
“I found out that I wasn’t the only one who’d had this kind of experience,” Stone said. “It’s so profound. And I know that scientists feel that it’s a scientific thing that happens. And spiritualists believe that it’s a spiritual thing. Personally, I’m with (Albert) Einstein, who believed that it’s both.”
Prior to her stroke, Sharon Stone was an in-demand actress. She was viewed as a premier sex symbol.
After her health crisis, those calls stopped coming in. It took her about seven years to recover professionally and get back on her feet in Hollywood.
“My recovery period was hell, quite frankly,” she says. “I lost 18 percent of my body mass in nine days. I came out of the hospital looking like teeth on a stick. At that time, they didn’t have stroke recovery programs. Months later, I was really, really struggling.”
She recalls that she “lost 18 percent of my body mass in nine days.” And, that she was still struggling months later because they didn’t have stroke recovery programs at that time.
“I had to remortgage my house. I lost everything I had. I lost my place in the business. I was like the hottest movie star, you know?” she said in an interview with Variety.
“It was like Miss Princess Diana and I were so famous, and she died and I had a stroke. And we were forgotten.”
She also revealed to Variety that many people were “brutally unkind” during her recovery.
“People treated me in a way that was brutally unkind,” Stone said. “From other women in my own business to the female judge who handled my custody case, I don’t think anyone grasps how dangerous a stroke is for women and what it takes to recover.”
Recovery As A Single Mother Of Three
During those years of recovery, she took on a new role as a single mother of three adopted sons.
Her cognitive and physical health slowly improved. Her new lifestyle was far away from Hollywood. Then, Stone began to read and practice memorizing lines; she also pushed herself to attend industry events.
“It took me a very, very long time to get here,” she says of her hard-won equilibrium. “I’ve met so many people in situations worse than my own, and I’ve learned a lot. This experience has developed my character.”
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“I’m in a really grateful place,” she states. “When I was a kid, I always wanted to have a house full of kids running and screaming and dogs, and I got it. And I feel very blessed and happy about the life I got. We’re happy together, and what’s better than that?”
Watch Sharon Stone’s interview with Sunday TODAY below:
“There’s nothing more free than standing centered in yourself,” she added. “I tell my friends that my new mantra is, ‘It’s never too late to become yourself.’”
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