NEWSLast Ditch Hope: Family Hopes for Miracle for Fading Star Jack Hanna
July 7 2023, Published 12:15 p.m. ET
After it was reported that Jack Hanna, the zookeeper who became famous as the director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, is battling Alzheimer's disease, his family is trying to set aside time for him to reunite with David Letterman to help him piece together his past.
"The country loved Dave and Jack together," an insider close to Hanna told Radar. "Their chemistry was magnetic and their friendship was completely genuine!"
"They all know how much working with Dave meant to Jack, not only for his career, but personally. They believe that if Dave stopped by and they could watch tapes of his many appearances, it would bring back so many lost memories," the source claimed. "They're convinced seeing Dave will remind him of the good times they shared together and bring him some much-needed happiness in his final days."
As OK! previously reported, the animal lover, who retired from public life in 2020, was first diagnosed in the fall of 2019 with early Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, Hanna doesn't even recognize his own family members, which include wife Suzi and his daughters, Kathaleen, Suzanne, and Julie.
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"The Jack people knew isn't here anymore, but pieces of my husband are," Suzi, who has been married to Hanna since 1968, told The Columbus Dispatch. "And I'm going to hang onto them for as long as I can."
“He just stopped remembering who I was in all ways. Whether it was in person or by phone, he had no idea I was his daughter. I think it’s because he didn’t see me as much because I got married so young and I moved away," she continued of her new reality.
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These days, the Late Night with David Letterman star only knows Suzi, his dog and sometimes daughter Kathaleen.
“My husband is still in there somewhere,” Suzi stated. “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.”
