Stephen Hawking Was Almost Unplugged In 1985

Famed physicist Stephen Hawking was almost taken off his life support by doctors all the way back in 1985.

In a new documentary titled Hawking, the 71-year-old British scientist reveals that he was suffering from such a severe case of pneumonia in the mid-80s that doctors offered to “unplug” him from his life support. Luckily, his first wife thought it best that he be returned to England.

“The doctors thought I was so far gone that they offered Jane [the option] to turn off the machine,” Hawking says in the documentary.

Hawking recalls the weeks of intensive care as “the darkest of my life,” and,though he did survive, the treatment caused him to lose what was left of his voice.

“But slowly the drugs worked, though a small incision in my throat robbed me of my ability to talk. I was then put on a ventilator and hopes of finishing my book seemed over.”

But he pushed on, and a few years later managed to complete his best-selling book A Brief History Of Time.

The documentary will be released this fall to coincide with the publication of his memoirs. In the film, Hawking discusses painful topics like the failure of his two marriages and his constant struggles with health.

“Because every day could be my last, I have a desire to make the most of every single minute,” says Hawking, who was told at 21 that he only had two years to live after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

He has since rekindled a friendship with Jane Hawking, his first wife, and she also appears in the documentary.

[Image: Wikimedia Commons]