Val Kilmer's tragic health battle saw him waking up in 'pool of his own blood'

Val Kilmer, the Hollywood star known for his roles in Batman Forever, The Doors and Top Gun, has tragically passed away from pneumonia at the age of 65. The actor , who also starred alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Michael Mann's Heat, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Despite recovering, he underwent trachea surgery that resulted in the loss of his voice and subsequently ended his movie career.

In a 2020 feature about Val in New York Times Magazine, journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner detailed his struggle with cancer . She revealed that the actor had difficulty swallowing and even woke up in a "pool of his own blood". Brodesser-Akner wrote: "As near as I can tell, in 2014, as he was touring with 'Citizen Twain', Kilmer found himself in Nashville with a big lump in his throat.



He was having a hard time swallowing. He canceled the show. "He'd been having symptoms for a while and had woken up in a pool of his own blood a time or two back in Malibu.

A doctor eventually told him it was throat cancer, or as Kilmer told me Christian Science calls it, the 'suggestion of throat cancer'." "Meaning that in Christian Science, 'the idea is rather than say I have it or possess it, there is a claim, there's a suggestion that this is a fact." In a 2017 interview with the Hollywood Reporter , Val, a Christian Scientist , admitted that his health struggles had shifted his perspective, confessing he was "too serious".

He also revealed his disappointment when accolades like Oscars didn't come his way. He mused: "Meryl Streep must feel pretty good, you know? It must feel nice to know that everyone loves her. It's about being loved".

Val appeared to grapple with accepting his illness, previously refuting Michael Douglas' claims that he had cancer in a 2016 Facebook post. When asked about the incident, Val said:"He was probably trying to help me cause press probably asked where I was these days, and I did have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is still swollen although healing all the time. Because I don't sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather.

" In a 2021 documentary titled 'Val,' the actor offered a glimpse into his life through four decades of home footage. The film also showed him using a voice box to communicate following his cancer surgery. Born in Los Angeles in 1959, Val enrolled in the Juilliard School's acting programme at just 17.

He kickstarted his career on stage before gaining recognition for roles in films like Real Genius and ultimately landing the role of Iceman in Top Gun ..