- Michael Klim has spoken out about his health struggles
- Swimming legend says he was ‘not a very nice person to be around’
- He has recovered and is enjoying his new life
Michael Klim has admitted he was ‘not a nice person to be around’ when he first started struggling with his health. The Australian swimming legend has opened up about how he has recovered from the shocking diagnosis he received.
The 47-year-old Olympic champion was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020, but did not go public with his health concerns until 2022.
Klim has spoken openly about the challenging four-year period that followed, during which his health deteriorated to the point that he could no longer walk and was confined to bed.
In CIDP, the body attacks its own tissue: the myelin sheaths that insulate and protect the nerves. This leads to weakness and numbness in the arms and legs.
The 47-year-old father of two daughters and a son told the Betoota Advocate podcast how the life-changing diagnosis left him a shadow of his former self, and the negative impact it had on his loved ones.
“I couldn’t really hide it anymore: I was unsteady on my feet and needed a walking stick, I looked different, I had gained a lot of weight and my treatment was taking its toll,” he said of his decision to go public with his actions in 2022.
‘Covid was a bit of a blessing but also a curse at the same time because I used it to hide from people. But then I had to reintegrate and I was in a pretty bad place mentally but I managed to get out of it. I sought help and all the things I love to do like working out, going outside and surfing, a lot of things were taken away from me so I had to rebuild my lifestyle and get into an acceptance phase where ‘Okay, this is the new normal, there’s still so much you can do’ because I couldn’t keep grieving for this life that I had left behind.
‘It was hard, it was hard for everyone around me, not just me, I wasn’t exactly a pleasant person to be around during that time.
‘I started having complaints about five years ago. If you suffer from a slight tingling sensation in your feet or thighs, or even cold feet, have it checked out as soon as possible. Many of these complaints can be quickly addressed and stopped if you catch them early.
Michael Klim has opened up about how he dealt with his shocking health diagnosis
The Australian swimming legend was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease in 2020
‘My condition deteriorated very quickly. Within six months I could no longer walk and lost all my muscles from my knees down.’
Klim said it was harder for him to accept the CIPD diagnosis than when he stopped swimming in 2012.
“It was a tougher test than quitting swimming and integrating into real life,” he said. “This was another challenge where I didn’t have my physical strength or my energy to fall back on.
“I had to create a whole new person. I’m still in my late 40s, I hope to be around for a while, I still have to be a present father, a caregiver, all that stuff, but there was a period where I wasn’t any of that.”
Klim, who lives in Bali with his partner Michelle Owen, can now walk with the help of a walking stick.
He is undergoing rehabilitation, including plasma treatment, which has helped him become more mobile by reducing inflammation and repairing nerve damage.
He said he was “not a very nice person to be around” when he first came to terms with his diagnosis
Swimmer Klim is probably best known for his huge victory at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he won gold for Australia.
Klim thrilled the crowd when he broke the world record in the 4x200m freestyle relay in the first leg of the race, helping his team to victory.
Klim, along with Ian Thorpe, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus, took home the gold medal, while the previously undefeated Americans took silver.