Ashton Kutcher shares details of secret battle with rare autoimmune disease

The 'That '70s Show' actor said he's "lucky to be alive" after rare autoimmune disorder vasculitis left him unable to see, walk or hear.

Ashton Kutcher said he is “lucky to be alive” after suffering from a rare disease that left him unable to see, hear or walk.

Kutcher revealed his struggle with vasculitis, an autoimmune disorder, for the first time in an episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, which airs on National Geographic.

In the episode, Grylls asked Kutcher where his strength comes from, to which the actor responded: “Two years ago, I had this weird, super rare form of vasculitis that, like, knocked out my vision. It knocked out my hearing. It knocked out, like, all my equilibrium.”

Kutcher, 44, said it took him about a year to regain his senses and balance again.

“You don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone, until you go, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to see again, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to hear again, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to walk again,'” he says.

Actor-director Harold Ramis died from vasculitis complications in 2014. The Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Vacation and Groundhog Day director suffered from the disease for four years before dying at 69.

Kutcher added at the end of the interview: “The minute you start seeing your obstacles as things that are made for you, to give you what you need, then life starts to get fun, right? You start surfing on top of your problems instead of living underneath them.”

Vasculitis is a family of rare diseases that causes inflammation of the blood vessels, according to the Mayo Clinic. The inflammation then restricts blood flow, which can result in organ and tissue damage or even an aneurysm. If an aneurysm bursts, it can cause internal bleeding and death.