Johnny Knoxville Left With Brain Damage After Stunt In Jackass Forever
Johnny Knoxville has revealed how he suffered brain damage from a Jackass Forever stunt involving a bull.
The 50-year-old ended up suffering concussion, a broken wrist, broken ribs and lost his cognitive abilities for three months.
Speaking to Howard Stern, Knoxville confirmed his injuries and said: "Yeah, I got a brain haemorrhage from that. So my cognitive abilities were in steep decline after that hit."
When asked whether his wife ever asks him to stop, he went on: "No one in my family is happy with the stunts and the bull hit was the worst hit I've ever taken from a bull or, maybe, period. Like I said my cognitive abilities really declined.
"I remember taking some tests, the neurosurgeon said 'do you have trouble paying attention right now?' I said 'yeah, why?' He goes: 'Because you scored a 17 on my attention... that's out of 100'."
He went on to say: "I laugh now, at the time I was like 'oh no'. Because, you know, I had to go under all these type of treatments, this transcranial magnetic stimulation which they buzz your head with these magnets for about 30 minutes at a time for like, I would say, 10 to 12 treatments over a series of two months.
"It's supposed to help with depression and help with my cognitive skills. It was a tough one to come back from. I was trying to edit the movie at the time and I couldn't sit still."
You can watch part of the interview here (WARNING CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE):
Stern went on to ask whether he would be open now to explore with a therapist 'why you're so attracted to danger' to which Knoxville responded: "Yes, I can now go into it with a therapist. I knew going into this film that after this I can't put myself on the line with stunts that can forever change my life.
"After the bull hit, I'm like I think I've done enough, right? I don't have anything to prove and I still have control of all of my faculties. I don't need to do large stunts anymore so I can talk to my therapist about that now. I'm sure it has something to do with self worth."
He also explained how he experienced struggles with his mental health after the bull stunt, adding: "I did slip into a little bit of a depression with this last concussion, that hasn't happened before. So I can't take anymore hits to the head."
Talking about the depression, he said: "My brain was just playing tricks on me, I got really depressed." He confirmed that he began taking medication for the first time in his life and explained that was an antidepressant.
But he revealed: "It completely turned me around, that and doing therapy. It was a really hard recovery... but I'm great now. I feel like I'm the healthiest I've ever been."
Jackass Forever is due to be released on 4 February.
Rebecca Shepherd