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Billy Connolly says he is 'near the end'

Sir Billy Connolly has admitted his life is "slipping away" as he spoke about his battle with Parkinson's disease.

Billy Connolly talks to BBC.
Billy Connolly talks to BBC. Source: BBC, Twitter

Legendary Scottish comedian Sir Billy Connolly has admitted he is "near the end" and his life is "slipping away", as he spoke about his fight with Parkinson's disease.

Speaking to his BBC documentary series Made In Scotland, Connolly says he is not scared of death.

"My life, it's slipping away and I can feel it and I should. I'm 75, I'm near the end. I'm a damn sight nearer the end than I am the beginning. But it doesn't frighten me, it's an adventure and it is quite interesting to see myself slipping away," he said.

Billy Connolly has spoken about his fight with Parkinson's disease.
Billy Connolly has spoken about his fight with Parkinson's disease. Source: AAP

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"As bits slip off and leave me, talents leave and attributes leave. I don't have the balance I used to have, I don't have the energy I used to have. I can't hear the way I used to hear, I can't see as good as I used to. I can't remember the way I used to remember.

"And they all came one at a time and they just slipped away, thank you. It is like somebody is in charge of you and they are saying 'right, I added all these bits when you were a youth, now it is time to subtract'."

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's - a neurological condition that impacts movement and speech - while undergoing surgery for early-stage prostate cancer in 2013.

At one point during the program, Connolly reportedly asks for filming to stop as he appears to be struggling with the effects of the disease.

Speaking about Parkinson's, he said: "It takes a certain calm to deal with, and I sometimes don't have it. I sometimes get angry with it, but that doesn't last long, I just collapse in laughter."


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