Two years ago, Jack Hanna's family revealed that the beloved wildlife expert had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Now, they're speaking openly about the state of his health.
In an extensive interview with The Columbus Dispatch, Jack Hanna's wife Suzi Egli revealed that her husband's condition has progressed to the stage where he doesn't recognize most of the members of his family. These days, the 76-year-old still remembers his wife, dog Brassy and (occasionally) his eldest daughter Kathaleen Hanna.
“My husband is still in there somewhere,” Egli told the publication. “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. But he took care of me all those years, and so it’s my turn to take care of him.”
Jack Hanna was first diagnosed in 2019 and doctors suspect his symptoms dated back to 2017. Egli said he made her promise that the outside world would never learn about his condition out of fear that it would end his career.
“He would have worked until the day he died. He only retired due to the Alzheimer’s,” Kathaleen Hanna said. “He was embarrassed by it. He lived in fear the public would find out.”
However, in 2021 the family went public with Jack Hanna's diagnosis following controversy surrounding the Columbus Zoo, where he spent more than 40 years as the director.
In her interview with the Columbus Dispatch, Kathaleen Hanna explained why the family decided to speak about her father's condition publicly now after keeping it private for so long.
“If this helps even one other family, it’s more than worth sharing dad’s story,” she said. “He spent a lifetime helping everyone he could. He will never know it or understand it, but he is still doing it now.”
These days, Jack Hanna and his wife spend their days on their Montana farm and take solace in a daily walking routine.
“I want to hold on to these walks as long as I can,” Egli said. “I remember the day this all officially started. The day the doctor told us what it was. I’ve just tried to hang on to the little pieces of Jack since then.”
Caring for someone with advanced Alzheimer’s isn't a breeze, and Egli admitted that it comes with a wide range of challenges. But she is determined to care for her husband by herself for as long as possible.
"The river, the sun, Brassy, our walks. ... That’s what we have left,” she said. “The Jack people knew isn’t here anymore, but pieces of my husband are. And I’m going to hang onto them for as long as I can.”