4 years after the animal hero’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Jack Hanna’s family provides a tragic update.
A terrible update on the state of renowned zookeeper Jack Hanna’s fight with Alzheimer’s has been provided by his family.
After receiving a dementia diagnosis in October 2019, the host of the animal TV program “lived in fear the public would find out,” according to sources. In the end, the family of the 76-year-old had no choice but to inform the public of his passing in 2021.
Sadly, they now claim that Hanna’s Alzheimer’s has advanced to the point where he no longer recognizes most of his family and doesn’t know he has the disease.
Jack Hanna built a successful career on his knowledge of animals and spreading awareness of the value of conservation, earning five Daytime Emmy Awards in the process. However, the last few years have been very difficult for Jack Hanna.
The general public was made aware of the celebrity zookeeper’s dementia diagnosis two years ago, in October 2019. In fact, according to a recent interview with Suzi, Hanna’s 75-year-old wife, and Kathleen, his 54-year-old eldest daughter, he had the rest of the family pledge not to inform anybody about his condition.
In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, Suzi lamented the day when she was compelled to breach her commitment. She confessed, “It killed me to break that promise.”
The Los Angeles Times reports that Hanna retired from public life in April 2021 and was subsequently designated director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo. However, his name and affiliation with the zoo were tarnished when a documentary named “The Conservation Game” was released that same year due to the “animal prisons” scandal.
Hanna was pressured to speak out throughout the incident, but given his health, he was not in a position to do so. His family had no choice except to reveal his illness to preserve his legacy.
‘Sue, you told them, didn’t you?’ he kept repeating. You made a promise to me, Sue, you made a promise,” Suzi said in the Dispatch interview.
Jack would have been heartbroken to learn what was occurring in the zoo. We couldn’t have explained to him since he wouldn’t have comprehended.
The LA Times reports that Hanna began exhibiting symptoms in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2019 that he received a formal diagnosis. Tragically, according to his family, he now finds it difficult to recognize them and only remembers his wife, Suzi, his dog Brassy, and, sporadically, his oldest daughter Kathleen.
According to Suzi, “My husband is still in there somewhere. The parts of him that made me and the rest of the world fall in love with him are still there in those wonderful, vulnerable times. It’s challenging. quite difficult some days. However, Dad looked after me for all those years, so now it’s my job to look after him.”
The Jack that people were familiar with is no longer here, but parts of my husband are, she continued. For as long as I can, I will hold on to them.
Let’s hope for the best for the venerable Jack Hanna in the future. We continue to think about and pray for him.
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