Looking at the positive. Ashton Kutcher‘s decision to open up about his past health scare comes after the actor received plenty of support from his wife, Mila Kunis.
“Ashton and Mila have a very small social circle, they have a few close friends that are like family that have been there for Mila and Ashton throughout his health battle,” a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
According to the insider, Kunis, 39, was “there every step of the way” for Kutcher, 44, and was “terrified about losing” her husband. “This had made their bond grow even stronger,” the source adds.
The Iowa native, who exchanged vows with the actress in 2015, recently revealed that he was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder. “Like 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 explained on an episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge in August.
During the TV appearance, the Just Married star noted that he was left bedridden amid the major health battle, adding, “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.’”
The entrepreneur, who shares daughter Wyatt, 7, and son Dimitri, 5, with Kunis, opened up about the lesson he learned from the experience. “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?” he said, adding that he was “lucky” to be alive. “You start surfing on top of your problems instead of living underneath them.”
That same month, Kutcher took to social media to clarify that he was “fully recovered” from the diagnosis. “Yes, I had a rare vasculitis episode 3yrs ago. (Autoimmune flair up) I had some impairments hear, vision, balance issues right after. I fully recovered. All good. Moving on,” he tweeted.
Since then, the Vengeance star started training for the New York City Marathon — and revealed his 12-pound weight loss. “The biggest change physically has been the transfer of muscle mass from upper body to lower body. I’ve lost about 12 pounds,” Kutcher told Entertainment Tonight late last month. “My wife has been super supportive.”
In the latest issue of Us, the insider shares that Kutcher has remained focused on his professional endeavors, saying, “Ashton still found time for working at home, business and investments is his great passion and it also helped him navigate this scary year.”
For more on Kutcher and Kunis’ close connection, watch the video above and look for the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.