'I suddenly lost feeling in my left leg': The moment Selma Blair knew something was wrong before MS diagnosis
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"Cruel Intentions" star Selma Blair recently opened up about the moment she felt something was wrong before her 2018 multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
In an interview with Town & Country, the 48-year-old actress revealed that she experienced the first symptom of her condition in February 2018, in a New York Fashion Week show for designer Christian Siriano. While Blair was strutting down the runway, she began to notice numbness in one of her legs.
"It was on that runway, with the thrill of walking in the show, that I suddenly lost feeling in my left leg," she recalled. "But I was on a runway and thinking, 'What do I do?'"
Following the fashion show, Blair took to Instagram to share a set of photos taken that evening to her 2.4 million followers, along with a caption explaining the bizarre sensation she had been feeling in her leg that night.
ALSO SEE: Selma Blair says her multiple sclerosis is in remission
"When I first stepped out. I couldn't feel the ground or how to lift my left leg. My brain was trying to compute. As I walked the runway, stunned," she wrote.
Six months later, the actress was officially diagnosed with MS — a condition that attacks the central nervous system and prevents communications between the brain and the rest of one's body. It wasn't until then that she realized that she had been experiencing symptoms for years, but accidentally attributing them to other origins.
After that, Blair made an announcement via social media, notifying her followers of her recent diagnosis. But for many, it really sank in when Blair attended the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscars party holding a gem-covered cane.
She explained to Town & Country that she felt obligated to spice up the look of her cane before making her grand return to the red carpet.
"It was a no-brainer, and there was no choice," she said. "I hadn't been on a red carpet for so long, and now I was coming. I knew, since my diagnosis, people might be watching. I didn't know if I would be forgotten about and be the last one on the red carpet."
ALSO SEE: 'An incredible time for me': Selma Blair opens up about finding the 'gift' in isolation
The actress went on to say that while she may be battling MS, looking good is important to her — particularly, being able to wear makeup.
"I don't mind if my muscles get caught at the intersection of a slow brain signal. I just want those words to come from lips covered in Chanel gloss," she quipped.
Blair added that she is "very comfortable" with her body, and is "now making a deeper positive connection with it."
"I am fascinated by this body and this life," she concluded.
