Jack Hanna, famed zookeeper and wildlife advocate, can't remember family amid Alzheimer's battle
22.06.2023 - 15:55
/ foxnews.com
Jack Hanna has been working with animals for decades as a zookeeper, a zoo director and a popular guest and host on a wide variety of television shows on which he shared his knowledge and passion for wildlife. Now, it appears that Hanna's animal handling days are over as the star's health continues to decline. He was diagnosed with early Alzheimer's in 2019, and in the past four years his condition has worsened so much that he can't remember huge chunks of his life, or even his family.
According to a profile done by The Columbus Dispatch – Columbus, Ohio, is the location of the zoo where Hanna spent most of his career – he can remember his wife, Suzi, his dog, a golden retriever named Brassy, and occasionally his oldest daughter (he has three). One of the many things he can't remember is Columbus itself. The article mentions that when the journalist introduced himself and said he was from the Ohio city, Hanna responded, "Have I ever been to Columbus, Ohio?" As his wife describes, he spends a great deal of his time sitting on the back porch of their Montana home.
He struggles with any change to his routine, and he's even reacted in anger toward her if there's a change that upsets him. She recalled one instance in which he told her that he'd gone blind, and after taking him to see a doctor, it was discovered that what actually happened was that he'd stacked five pairs of contacts in his eyes, forgetting over and over that he'd put them in. "My husband is still in there somewhere," she told the newspaper.
"There are still those sweet, tender moments – you know, pieces of him that made me and the rest of the world fall in love with him. It’s hard. Real hard some days.
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