Billy Connolly’s ‘near the end’ – but not scared of dying

Sir Billy Connolly’s battle with Parkinson’s disease has left him "near the end" of his life.
The 76-year-old comedy legend was diagnosed with
the incurable disorder – which leaves him shaking and struggling to move – in 2013, and has sadly revealed that he feels like his life is "slipping away" from him, though he insists he’s not scared of the prospect of dying.
According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, he said: "My life, it’s slipping away and I can feel it and I should. "I’m 76, 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."
The Glaswegian actor – who is married to Pamela Stephenson, with whom he has grownup children Scarlett, 30, Daisy, 35, and 32-year-old Amy – says he’s struggling to hear, see and remember like he used to.
He said: "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."
Billy – who also has Cara, 46, and son Jamie Connolly, 50, with ex-wife Iris Pressagh – recently revealed he tried smoking marijuana to treat the disease but just got "stoned" instead.
While he hadn’t had the drug in about three decades, he decided to see if it would help – but it didn’t quite go to plan.
He shared: "I just got bomb happy. Just stoned. It was quite pleasant, but I don’t want to do that every day.
"I was never very good with marijuana, I always got too stoned and it always lasted too long. I stopped all that about 30 years ago."
Meanwhile, last month Billy revealed he is willing to be a "guinea pig" in a bid to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease, which causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over years.
He admitted he’s been in contact with stem cell scientists at Harvard University about using him to advance their research and, hopefully in the long run, discover a cure for the condition.
Speaking in an extract taken from a book, published by The Scotsman, he said: "I’ve spoken to guys working on it at Harvard and told them I’ll be a guinea pig for them. I think they are going to take me up on that."