Trigger warning: This article discusses suicidal ideation.
Ashton Kutcher wanted to help his brother by any means necessary.
Alongside twin Michael Kutcher, the That '70s Show actor opened up about both of their health scares in an emotional series premiere of Paramount+'s The Checkup with Dr. David Agus. During the episode, the brothers recalled when Michael, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at a young age, checked into the emergency room after experiencing flu-like symptoms. Doctors diagnosed Michael with an enlarged heart, and after he flatlined, the then 13-year-old was given just 48 hours to live without a heart transplant.
After hearing that news, Ashton said he began to think of possible solutions—including how he could be his brother's heart donor.
"I'm thinking to myself, 'If anyone's a match, I'm a match,'" he remembered. "So now, you start running that cycle through your head. You're like, 'This balcony looks far enough to take things.'"
Michael said the incident made him truly appreciate his family, even as a teen.
"You just realize that the fighting that we do as siblings, and the arguing with the parents and 13-year-old behavior just isn't what it's about," he noted. "I'll never forget seeing him and my sister. You don't see a lot of 13-year-olds tell their siblings that they love them. But to me, it was the most important thing that I could do."
In a "miracle," Michael was matched with a new heart within 24 hours, which he said was "unheard of."
"It's all because some lady checked yes on her driver's license," Ashton explained. "She checked yes on her driver's license, and decided that the most generous thing that she could do with her life is to give life to someone else."
Elsewhere in the episode, Ashton and his brother discuss the No Strings Attached actor's 2019 health scare with vasculitis, which is a serious autoimmune disease that can lead to blood clots and organ damage.
The Checkup With Dr. David Agus debuted the series' first three episodes, starring Oprah Winfrey and Howie Mandel in addition to the Kutcher brothers, on Paramount+ Dec. 6. The final three episodes will premiere on Dec. 12.