Sharon Stone has candidly shared her experience of enduring a life-altering stroke in 2001, and the tumultuous aftermath that followed. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Casino actress, 66, said that she found herself exploited and left broke at the time.

Sharon Stone Gets Candid About Her Life-Altering 2001 Stroke And The Tumultuous Aftermath That Followed
Over two decades ago, Stone found herself in a dire medical emergency as she endured a brain hemorrhage that stretched on for a harrowing nine days, ultimately landing her in the hospital. The Basic Instinct star recalled: "A Buddhist monk told me that I had been reincarnated into my same body."
She added, telling the outlet: "I had a death experience and then they brought me back. I bled into my brain for nine days, so my brain was shoved to the front of my face." Stone continued: "It wasn’t positioned in my head where it was before."
The Total Recall alum went on: "And while that was happening, everything changed. My sense of smell, my sight, my touch. I couldn’t read for a couple of years. Things were stretched and I was seeing color patterns. A lot of people thought I was going to die." Â

Stone explained that it took a long seven years for her to completely bounce back from the medical ordeal she faced. During those years, she said that "people took advantage" of her.
"I had $18m saved because of all my success, but when I got back into my bank account, it was all gone. My refrigerator, my phone – everything was in other people’s names," she noted. "I had zero money." Â

The Oscar nominee went on to say that instead of letting any "bitterness or anger" consume her, she ultimately "decided to stay present and let go."
Stone reflected: "If you bite into the seed of bitterness, it never leaves you. But if you hold faith, even if that faith is the size of a mustard seed, you will survive." Regarding her positive mindset twenty-three years after her stroke, Stone said: "So, I live for joy now. I live for purpose." Â

