PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty ImagesMany of us will always know Harrison Ford as the archaeologist who took on a number of exciting (but also terrifying) adventures onscreen, but his most important role in life will always be dad.
The actor appeared at the NYU Langone Medical Center's Find a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures (a.k.a "FACES") event, where he revealed that his 26-year-old daughter, Georgia Ford, has epilepsy. "She is joining me to thank FACES. I admire a lot of things about her. I admire her perseverance, her talent, her strength. She's my hero. I love her," Ford told New York Daily News' Confidenti@l.
"When you have a loved one who suffers from this disease, it can be devastating. You know how it affects their lives, their future, their opportunities and you want desperately to find mitigation. You want to find a way that they can live a comfortable and effective life."
The actor also spoke at the event, and illustrated the various seizures his daughter faced during her teen years before finally being diagnosed.
"A few years later she had another big one, this one on a beach in Malibu, where a Hollywood director found her, luckily," he said of his daughter with his second wife, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, after describing a seizure Georgia suffered during a sleepover as a child. "I said to myself this is Los Angeles, we have some of the best doctors in the world, they must know what's wrong with her. But nothing was diagnosed as epilepsy."
It wasn't too long before Ford decided to try NYU's facility. "Dr. Orinn Davinsky, who is a dear friend, made the diagnosis: epilepsy," the celeb said with tears in his eyes.
"He prescribed the right medication and therapy; she has not had a seizure in eight years."