Even when facing the possibility of amputation, Furst still wasn’t taking his diagnosis seriously and tried sneaking in a large order of Chinese food. When the hospital staff confiscated the food and instead put him on a diet plan, Furst quickly lost weight — and realized he could make a significant change.
“Like most severely overweight people, I had to hit a rock-hard bottom before I’d take responsibility for the consequences of neglecting my own health,” he admitted to the outlet.
The actor lost over 100 lbs. and became an advocate for the prevention of diabetes.
“The way to deal with the devil of obesity and diabetes is literally one day at a time,” Furst said. “When I achieved my weight goal, I bought myself a bracelet inscribed with the following 12-Step prayer: ‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’ The magic is you can change more things than you could ever dream of.”
After his death, his sons, Nathan and Griffith, took to his Facebook page to honour their father.
“If you knew him personally, remember his gift for lighting up a room,” they wrote. “And no matter who you are, when you think of Steve, instead of being sad, celebrate his life by watching one of his movies or use one of his bits to make someone else laugh — really, really hard.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.