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Chevy Chase and friends and family looked back on the harrowing period of his life, when he suffered heart failure, which she said caused memory loss.
Family speaks about life-threatening situation
The comedian, who was hospitalized in 2021 after suffering heart failure, spoke about the medical incident and its aftermath in the upcoming CNN documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not.”
“Well, I mean, he’s in his 80s and basically back from the dead,” his daughter Caley Chase explained in the documentary, People reports. “He had heart failure…It’s so hard to talk about.”
His wife Jayni Chase, who has been married to Chevy Chase since 1982, also contributed to the authorized documentary. She described what led to her being taken to the hospital. “Something was wrong and he couldn’t explain to me what was wrong. So we went to the emergency room. His heart stopped,” she said. “During the years he drank, he developed cardiomyopathy – where the heart muscle becomes weaker and can no longer pump as much blood with each beat.”
Eight days of artificial coma
Chase’s friend Peter Aaron said in the documentary that while in the hospital, doctors “decided to put him in a coma for maybe eight days.” He added that he believes the actor’s “memory lapses stem from this incident.”
Chase himself spoke in the film about his memory loss and the doctors’ prognosis. “According to the doctors, my memory would be ruined after that, and that’s exactly what happened here,” Chase said. He reported that he played card games and chess to improve his cognitive skills. “I’m fine now. It’s just that it affects memory and the doctors told me that, so I have to remind myself of things.”
Time after hospitalization
After Chase was released from the hospital in 2021, he told Page Six that he had been hospitalized for a “heart problem,” but did not provide any details about the incident or mention that he had been in a coma.
“These are my first days back home. All I can say is how happy I am to be back with my family. I’m doing well,” Chase said at the time. “I was in the hospital for five weeks. A heart problem. So I’m at home at the moment.”
Documentary also sheds light on career
“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” also touches on incidents throughout his career, including issues from his time on Community and Saturday Night Live. The documentary premieres on CNN on January 1st.