Sharon Stone, 65 gives heartbreaking health update after near-death incident

Sharon Stone has candidly discussed the challenges she’s faced since suffering a devastating stroke in 2001, revealing the measures she must take to prevent seizures.

Earlier this year, the actress disclosed that her chances of surviving the stroke were just 1%, and she claimed to have been ostracized by Hollywood ever since.

Now, the Basic Instinct star has shared that she requires eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each night to avoid experiencing another medical incident.

Once one of the world’s biggest female stars, capable of drawing audiences to blockbuster films and undoubtedly a supremely talented actress, Sharon Stone’s life looks significantly different today than during her heyday.

The now-65-year-old suffered a serious stroke in 2001, and though over two decades have passed, she’s still feeling the effects.

“For a long time I wanted to pretend that I was just fine,” Stone told People Magazine in a recent interview.

“I need eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for my brain medication to work so that I don’t have seizures. So I’m a disability hire, and because of that, I don’t get hired a lot. These are the things that I’ve been dealing with for the past 22 years, and I am open about that now.”

In June of this year, Stone discussed in detail how she felt that Hollywood had unceremoniously abandoned her in the wake of her stroke.

Speaking at the “Raising Our Voices” luncheon, given by The Hollywood Reporter, Stone described herself as “a person that has a diversity issue.”

“I had a stroke in 2001,” she explained. “I had a 1% chance of survival. I had a nine-day brain bleed. I recovered for seven years, and I haven’t had jobs since. My contract changed. I have a maximum of a 14-hour day. When it first happened, I didn’t want to tell anybody because, you know, if something goes wrong with you, you’re out. Something went wrong with me: I’ve been out, for 20 years.”

It should go without saying that there’s no good time to have a stroke, but the circumstances of Stone’s were particularly unfortunate. The actress was at the peak of her powers in 2001, having been nominated for an Oscar for Casino just five years prior.

Mere months before the stroke, Stone and her then-husband, Phil Bronstein, adopted their son Roan.

“I lost everything,” Stone said of the stroke. “I lost all my money. I lost custody of my child. I lost my career. I lost all those things that you feel are your real identity and your life.

“I never really got most of it back, but I’ve reached a point where I’m okay with it, where I really do recognize that I’m enough.”