Photo of young-looking Jet Li goes viral more than a year after he was looking so frail

The 56-year-old Chinese star of Romeo Must Die, The Expendables 3 and Lethal Weapon 4 (soon to appear in the live-action version of Disney’s Mulan) is known for his superb martial arts skills and exciting action movies.

The world didn’t know it, but Li has been battling hyperthyroidism for years. Around 15 months ago, a photo of Li at a Tibetan temple circulated the internet, and fans were stricken to see that the martial arts star looked visibly older and very frail.

Fans all over the world were distressed, and some even thought the photo was fake.

The Beijing-born actor said in 2013 that he had been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 2010. Hyperthyroidism is a condition where one has an overactive thyroid that changes a person’s metabolism and heart rate.

Fans, who were full of sympathy for the action star, sent their well-wishes and hoped he would beat his illness and be his youthful, healthy self once again.

Their wish has come true. Li shocked the world once more with a photo that has again gone viral, this time for looking so good and frankly, about two decades younger than his 2018 self.

In this most recent photo of him with a fan, Li is all smiles and looks to be in superb health. With his hair grown back, a happy look on his face, a baseball cap and sunglasses, he looks just like he used to before he fell ill.

Netizens were overjoyed, impressed and astonished to see Li’s transformation, and many commented on his new, healthy appearance.

These days, Li is focusing his time and efforts on helping with disaster relief operations after he and his family experienced the Indian Ocean tsunami firsthand in 2004.

But Li’s not done with the big screen quite yet. He is set to play the Emperor of China in Disney’s much-anticipated live-action remake of Mulan, which is expected to hit the theatres in 2020. /TISG