Michael Klim doesn’t look like that anymore! Swimmer reveals surprising make -over while he shares the update over the rare car -immune disease so he could not walk

Michael Klim has shared an update about his health – and his new look.

The Aussie -Zwem legend, 47, was diagnosed with the neurological disorder Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020 and told the project on Monday that he was doing well.

He also revealed his make -over, including a busy mustache and a goatee, both in a salt and pepper tape, which is far removed from usually clean -shaved face.

“I mix it. I had one look for 47 years. I had to come up with something else, “the athlete joked.

Asked how he was doing in terms of his health struggle, Michael was optimistic.

“I feel really good. My life is physically and mentally stabilized, “he explained before he answered a question about whether he was in pain.

‘My mobility has been compromised. But I have some great AFOs, are a kind of prostheses. Some of my favorite things, such as surfing and playing tennis, are excluded, but I had a ski for the first time in 12 years, “he said.

Michael said that there were ‘many things’ he could not do, but many he could, and added that he was now focused on his foundation, De Klim Foundation, that collects money and consciousness for CIDP.

“With the foundation it is what we are trying to do, enable many patients to give them their lives back,” he said.

“We can not only do it through blood donations, AFOs, with the right physio, who have support and also counseling.”

Michael said that counseling was a large part of what brought him

“Mentally getting out of the gap and realizing that life still had a lot to give was probably the biggest victory for me,” he said.

The star rather revealed that his biggest battle was mental, not physical because he is struggling with a rare car -immune disease that let him unable to walk.

He told the Sunday project that the ‘mental resilience’ that he had as an athlete is something that he had to rediscover to deal with his physical ailments.

‘Almost all athletes are physically taught, you continue mentally. Even after the sport I took over the same mentality, “he said.

‘For me to be more vulnerable and to listen to my body and my emotion is something that I still learn to do better and something that helped me a lot.

He added: ‘The largest thing I had to overcome was to accept the new identity. I am still in the eyes of many people, the swimmer. And I always trusted my physicality to give me a lot of mental resilience.

“Now that physicality has actually disappeared, I have to find other mental power to overcome physical disabilities.”

Michael further said that as his illness progresses, he has grown into time with his family above all.

‘It has actually changed my perspective on life. I really appreciate the time I have with my children much more than before, “he said.

‘It brought my family much closer together. It has ruled many friendships and relationships that I had in my life. ‘

Michael recently shared the devastating details of his ‘heavy’ battle with CIDP.

The former Olympian openly spoke about the challenging diagnosis, so that he lost the ability to walk in just six months and left him bedridden.

CIDP ensures that the body attacks its own tissue – the myelin sheaths that insulate and protect the nerves – causing weakness and lack of feeling in the arms and legs.

Climb has its ‘tough’ four -year battle with the condition detailed and spoke about the mental challenge to be unable to walk from an Olympian.

Talk about Drew Barrymore and Wanderlust’s True North Event SydneyKlim explained how his leg muscles started to ‘disappear’ when he deteriorated.

“I had many neural symptoms early – most people would get cold feet at night or you would get a tingle on your quad – but I started to get these random feelings in my legs and they started progressing and got worse,” he shared.

‘By the end my legs would give me away when I walked back. All my other pain and pains started to pop up even more, which influenced my daily lifestyle from my ankle to my back.

‘I was almost almost tipped over the edge and I couldn’t walk within six months. I lost all the functionality of the knees, my muscles literally just disappeared.

“As many races as I wanted to do, nothing did them go and activate those muscles.”

Climb – which is now able to walk with the help of a walking stick – admitted that the diagnosis also demanded a mental toll while he was sure come to terms with his physical symptoms.

“It was really mentally confronted, not only physically,” he explained as he spoke to press for the Talke event of ACTRESS Drew in the ICC theater.

“I could look down and see these sticks hanging on my body, who for someone who defied myself on my physical capacity, who was taken away within six months.”

Climb undergoes rehabilitation, including plasma treatment, which has helped him to become more mobile by reducing inflammation and repairing nerve damage.

“The last two years were OK, but the first two were quite difficult,” he confessed, discussing the challenges of the diagnosis in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemie.

He also praised his girlfriend Michelle Owen for her support, because he admitted that it had been a difficult journey.

Klim revealed his romance for the first time with DJ Michelle in October 2019, three years after his split of his model ex-wife Lindy Klim in 2016 after 10 years of marriage.

Swimmer Klim is perhaps best known for his huge triumph at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, where he took gold home for Australia.

In the 4x200m freestyle relay, climbing crowds wild when he broke the world record in the first stage of the race and his team for Triumph.

In addition to Ian Thorpe, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus, the gold medal took home, with the previously undefeated Americans instead capturing the silver.

The highly regarded athlete withdrew from competitive swimming in 2007 and runs a successful swimming school company in Bali.

He moved to Indonesia with his girlfriend Michelle after being diagnosed with CIDP for the first time.