Sharon Stone reveals how she lost $18 million after health issue left her 'unable to read'

Sharon Stone has opened up about her stroke and how it's impacted her life and left her with 'zero money'.

The Gloria star started modeling in her teenage years, before pursuing her acting career and landing a brief role in 1980 movie Stardust Memories directed by Woody Allen. This was, of course, before her breakthrough moment in 1992's Basic Instinct.

The 66-year-old has an impressive portfolio of movies under her belt, however, in 2001 - at the age of 43 she experienced a stroke and was given a one percent chance of survival, which severely impacted the life she'd built herself.

Stone's stroke led to a brain bleed which lasted for nine days.

She told Brain and Life at the time: "My recovery period was hell, quite frankly.

"I lost 18 percent of my body mass in nine days. I came out of the hospital looking like teeth on a stick. At that time, they didn't have stroke recovery programs. Months later, I was really, really struggling."

Stone told The Hollywood Reporter as a result of her brain being 'shoved to the front of [her] face', 'everything changed'.

"My sense of smell, my sight, my touch. I couldn’t read for a couple of years. Things were stretched and I was seeing color patterns. A lot of people thought I was going to die," she continued.

It meant Stone was forced to take a step back from her career, rely on other people for help and rely on the money she'd already made for herself, but the cool $18 million she's amassed didn't take long to vanish. But why?

Sharon Stone experienced a stroke in 2001 (Michael Loccisano/Getty Image)

Well, Stone says she 'had $18 million saved because of all [her] success', however, when she 'got back into' her bank account after her stroke, the money was allegedly 'all gone'.

She said: "People took advantage of me over that time [...] My refrigerator, my phone - everything was in other people’s names.

"[...] I had zero money."

While many of us would probably have shared a similarly enraged reaction she 'decided to stay present and let go,' not 'hang[ing] onto being sick or to any bitterness or anger'.

Stone decided to let go of losing her $18 million savings (Getty Images/ Mark Von Holden/Variety)

Stone explained experiencing her stroke 'totally' changed how she thinks about herself and the world around her.

She was also told by a Buddhist monk she 'had been reincarnated into [the] same body'.

Stone resolved: "If you bite into the seed of bitterness, it never leaves you. But if you hold faith, even if that faith is the size of a mustard seed, you will survive. So, I live for joy now. I live for purpose."