Jack Osbourne had one important message for public following MS diagnosis
It's been 12 years since media personality Jack Osbourne broke the news that he'd been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
And for a lot of the TV star's followers, one of the important messages he had following the brutal health blow has stayed with them forever and is often used as a means of comforting other MS sufferers.
When Jack, famed for his family's appearance in noughties reality hit The Osbournes, received the news, it had been just two weeks since he and then-fiance Lisa Stelly had welcomed their first child together, a beautiful baby girl named Clementine.
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Just 26 at the time, he admitted that he was scared if the future.
He told People Magazine at the time: "I was just angry and frustrated and kept thinking, 'Why now?’.
"I’ve got a family and that’s what’s supposed to be the most important thing."
The NHS website describes multiple sclerosis as a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of potential symptoms, including numbness or a tingling feeling in different parts of the body, feeling off balance, and vision problems.
Side effects could also extent to include total mental and physical fatigue, slowed thinking, mobility struggles and strange skin sensations.
Recently, however, with over a decade of living with MS under his belt - as well as three more children - Jack has reflected on all the ways he was initially wrong about his diagnosis.
"The thing that stands out to me the most is how quickly things are progressing," the now 38-year-old admitted.
"In the sense of what they told me the first day I got diagnosed to where we are now. It’s almost a different landscape."
Speaking to Everyday Health, he also issued a vital message to fellow sufferers of the condition.
"The most common misconception is that people think you’re not so able-bodied when you have MS," Jack explained. "Either that, or they’ll assume you’re fine because you’re not in a wheelchair.
"I like to say that MS is as unique to the individual as their own fingerprint. The biggest thing is: Don’t just lump everyone under the umbrella of 'This is MS' because it really is so different for everyone."
The on-screen star - who welcomed two more daughter with actress Stelly before the duo divorced in 2019, and another daughter with now-wife, fashion designer Aree Gearhart - also reflected on how MS impacted him individually upon initial diagnosis.
As well as losing the vision in his right eye, he'd struggled with numbness in his legs throughout the early days.
"The eye doctor sent me to the ER, and the ER was like, 'We need an MRI,' and then spinal taps and blood work and talking with neurologists," he recalled.
"Come to find out, that wasn't my first exacerbation. About 18 months prior, my legs had gone numb, and it was all connected to the same thing."
Now, however, he wants to continue using his platform to emphasise that, MS to one person will be totally different to another.
"I felt a weird obligation," Jack confessed. "I’m in the public eye, and I thought it would really benefit people if multiple sclerosis was talked about a bit more.
"MS is very common and a lot more common than people think, but a lot of people who are younger are nervous to let people know about it because of the stigma that comes along with it. I know a few people who keep it on the DL [down low]."
Topics: Celebrity, Health, US News, Reality TV, Parenting, NHS
Rhianna Benson