Survival instinct: Sharon Stone reveals desperate fight for life after stroke
Sharon Stone has spoken of how she fought for her life after a stroke in her early-40s. The Hollywood superstar said a bleed in her brain had her in “agonising pain, facing death, scared and lonely”. Stone, 63, who shot to fame following the release of thriller Basic Instinct in 1992, says it took her seven years to recover from the 2001 stroke and brain bleed. Her new memoir, The Beauty Of Living Twice, begins with an account of the moment in 2001 that Stone, lying on a hospital bed, was told by a doctor she was experiencing a cerebral haemorrhage. Stone told how she was warned by the surgeon she might lose the ability to speak. And she told of seeing a bright light and a feeling of being reunited with friends, before abruptly coming to in her hospital bed. But her hallucinations continued even after she was sent home, including waking to find her grandmother Lela, who had been dead for 30 years, standing at the foot of her bed. Stone also revealed how, despite Basic Instinct’s commercial success, she was derided by some in Hollywood. She said: “When I went to the Golden Globes as a nominee in 1993 and they called my name as a finalist, everyone laughed. It was really hard to be me after that movie came out. They wanted to believe I was the character.” The star says she is currently single, adding she has tried online dating, including one that blocked her account because they assumed it was fake.