Sharon Stone on hitting 60
Movie star reveals why she’s so happy to hit birthday milestone
SCREEN siren Sharon Stone may have just turned 60 but the Basic Instinct star revealed she was lucky to see 50 after a brush with death.
The leading lady hid her ordeal for more than a decade, fearing it would destroy her career – but has now opened up about her fight for life 17 years ago.
Stone said: “I never guessed I’d be happy turning 60. Let’s be real, it’s old. But it’s the greatest achievement for me because there was a time I wasn’t sure if I’d make 50.”
The Casino and The Quick and the Dead actress was struck down by a blinding headache in autumn 2001. Despite being in agony, it was three days before she was taken to hospital in San Francisco, where she lived with then-husband Phil Bronstein.
Exploratory surgery revealed she had suffered a brain bleed. In fact, there was so much blood inside her skull, it had forced her brain forward into her face.
When Stone came round and heard what doctors had discovered, she asked if she should call her mum.
They told her to do it as soon as possible, before she lost the ability to speak.
It took her body two years to absorb the blood that leaked into her skull.
Stone said: “When I got home, it affected my left ear. I couldn’t hear anything. I was blind in one eye, then I went completely blind temporarily.
“I was lucky to be alive. When I was at hospital, they had missed that an artery to my brain had switched course and was affecting my nerves. Once that was corrected, I was on the road to recovery. But it was a long road.
“My sight came back, my hearing came back, although it drops out every now and then. I had to relearn everything pretty much – to read, write and speak. It was a challenge.”
This was compounded by her husband filing for divorce two years later and winning custody of their son Roan, now 17, adopted a year before her haemorrhage.
Having hidden her plight from the industry, fearing it would destroy her career, Stone is now back on top. Recent photos of her with Italian toyboy Angelo Boffa sparked rumours they pair were engaged as she sported a diamond ring on her left hand.
But she’s just happy to be doing what she loves.
Stone said: “The fact I’m acting again, and not just in small roles, is a huge win.
“It’s true that what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. “I feel stronger and
reinforced.”
I had to relearn to read, to write and speak. It was a challenge SHARON STONE