Actor Tyler James Williams, who just won a Golden Globe for his role on the hit ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary,” recently opened up about the moment he nearly died from a disease he didn’t even know he had.
In an interview with Men’s Health, the Williams, 30, opened up about his experience with Crohn’s disease, which he wasn’t diagnosed with until his early 20s. He explained that he went overboard while trying to gain muscle for roles — hiring trainers, lifting heavy weights, and force-feeding himself.
As People magazine reports, when when he was 24 and busy with roles on Criminal Minds and Detroit, Williams recalled dealing with an excruciating stomach pain and being unable to keep any food down. “I was really pushing my body to the limit,” he said, noting that he weighed 130 lbs. at the time. “By the time December hit, it just crashed. Everything shut down.”
Williams visited a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone and an X-ray revealed that his bowels were extremely inflamed and clogged with scar tissue, and he was immediately diagnosed as having a massive flare up from Crohn’s disease.
Crohn’s is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) “characterized by inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract,” according to Health. The disease affects an estimated half a million people in the United States.
Typically caused by a sensitive immune system — which confuses innocuous bacteria for harmful pathogens — symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, skin changes and arthritis. If left untreated, Crohn’s disease can be life threatening.
Williams shared that after doctors found that he was having a flare-up, he was rushed into emergency surgery to remove 6 inches of his lower intestine. However, he explained that his intestines were unable to heal back together and he went into septic shock.
The Everybody Hates Chris alum had to go back into surgery and spent the following months requiring an intravenous feeding system, which left him weighing 105 lbs. and too weak to stand. “The last thought I had was, ‘This could be it. If this is it, I’m not happy. I worked a lot. I did a lot of things. I didn’t enjoy any of this. This can’t be it,'” he recalled.
Williams also revealed that his brother Tyrel is also living with Crohn’s disease, and the pair have both been focusing on living a healthier lifestyle. The actor said that he gave up alcohol, coffee and red meat after his diagnosis because they can trigger flare-ups of the disease.
But that was then, and this is now. Today, Williams says he’s stronger than ever. “I had to learn how to stop making a dramatic change happen really quickly and learn how to have a better relationship with my body,” he told Men’s Health. “The important thing for me, and those like me, to remember is that longevity is a big part of the game. If you can’t [stay strong] and be healthy, there really is no point.”
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