Tony Danza Opens Up About The Accident That Almost Cost Him Everything

In 1993, Tony Danza lost his mother and would soon come face to face with death himself.

Everyone's favorite Who's The Boss star achieved success in the 90's with a Emmy Award nomination and four Golden Globe Awards. In 1998, Danza won the People's Choice Award for his work on the 1997 sitcom The Tony Danza Show.

Despite acting on set for laughs, the Taxi star had a tragic past that weighs on his mind often.

While skiing in Utah's Deer Valley, Danza impacted a tree at high speed.

The accident that happened more than two decades ago, left the TV star in critical condition for a month.

On December 28, 1992 he suffered a punctured lung, six broken ribs, and two broken vertebrae in his back as a result of his accident.

Surprisingly he lived to tell the tale.

"Well, I do a bad joke," he said. "You wake up on a respirator. You look up, your wife's crying. You say, `Gee, need a second opinion.' "

It wasn't weather conditions or an equipment malfunction that caused Danza to fall on the slopes.

"The reason I fell… is because I [had] lost my mother in June, it was the first Christmas and I had her in my mind," Danza admitted on the Dr. Oz show.

"So I was thinking about her and I fell and hurt myself," he said.

"Every Christmas you go through this thing where you miss the people who aren’t there anymore... I'm sorry folks, I didn’t mean for this to [happen]. I’m just a bit of a crybaby."

Only two years later, Danza hit the slopes again braving his fear of being injured again.

"I was thinking of selling the house, of not skiing anymore," Danza said.

But one thing changed his mind.

"I went to see where I got hurt . . . and then I started to ski, and I spent two and a half weeks up there and refell in love with my house, refell in love with the sport, refell in love with the area," Danza said.

Skiing itself wasn't the issue, but the amount of jokes he faced about his accident.

"I skiied down to the lodge to get my pass and the girl immediately asked me if I was staying on the bunny slope. Ha, ha," he said. "So I felt it was going to be a long week."

But it wasn't a long week at all for the actor.

"People were really very nice. And I think they were shocked to see me back," he said.

His mom continues to stay on his mind though.

In 2014, he shared a sweet photo of him and his mother in celebration of Mother's Day.

In spite of the tears and fears, Danza is moving on as best as he can.

“I had a great therapist who said to me one of the greatest lines of all time – he said, ‘You’ve gotta take part in your own recovery.’ And I got that,” he said.

Source: DailyMail / Deseret News / People