Jack Osbourne and fiancee Lisa Stelly
Jack Osbourne, the reality TV star who was first launched into the public eye a decade ago alongside his famously obscene family on The Osbournes and later carved out his own TV niche with the show Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie, has revealed he suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The 26-year-old discovered he had the autoimmune disease after he lost 60% of the vision in his right eye earlier this year. Multiple sclerosis affects the nervous system by damaging the protective sheath that surrounds the nerve fibers of the brain and spinal cord. It’s often diagnosed during young adulthood and can lead to speech difficulties, loss of coordination, blindness and chronic pain. Yet not all cases of MS are the same: while some sufferers experience rapid and debilitating deterioration, others spend years with only the mildest of symptoms.
“While I was waiting for the final results, I got really, really angry,” Jack told the tabloid magazine Hello! in an interview. “Then I got really sad for about two days, and after that I realized, being angry and upset is not going to do anything at this point – if anything it’s only going to make it worse. ‘Adapt and overcome’ is my new motto.”
The news, which came just three weeks after Osbourne’s fiancée Lisa Stelly gave birth to their baby daughter, Pearl Clementine, has reportedly rocked the whole family. While former X-Factor judge Sharon and former Black Sabbath rocker Ozzy have both expressed feelings of guilt over their son’s diagnosis, there is no known definitive cause of MS. There is also no known cure, though Osbourne has said he plans to treat the disease with a combination of daily medications and holistic treatments.