Family members and a longtime friend of Chevy Chase are opening up about the undisclosed heart issues that put him in the hospital for five weeks in 2021, according to Variety.
The “Saturday Night Live” veteran, now 82, was placed into an induced coma for about eight days after he experienced heart failure, an upcoming documentary revealed.
The new insight stems from “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” which is set to premiere on CNN on Jan. 1. It depicts a “bold and deeply human portrait of one of Hollywood’s great enigmas,” according to the outlet.
His wife, Jayni Chase, recounted that Chase “couldn’t explain to me what was wrong,” so they decided to head to the emergency room just before his heart stopped. She disclosed that the comedian was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a chronic disease of the heart muscle.
“During those years he was drinking, he got cardiomyopathy; when the heart muscles get weaker, and they can’t pump as much blood out with each beat,” Jayni said in the documentary, Variety reported.
His daughter, Caley Chase, said that he had “basically come back from the dead.”
“The doctor had warned us: ‘We might not get him back. We don’t know how present he’ll be. Prepare yourselves for the worst,’” Caley said. “He woke up, all he could do was use his voice.”
Caley said she knew Chase was his old self after a nurse rearranged some medical equipment: “She said, ‘I’m going to have to put this in here.’ And he said, ‘That’s what she said.’”
Peter Aaron, a friend of Chase, said that it took time for him to “reorient himself” after the coma, saying “I feel like his memory gaps come from that incident.” Chase admitted that may be the case.
“Heart failure is what it is,” he said. “I’m fine now. It’s just that it affects your memory, the doctors have told me that. So, I have to be reminded of things.”
Chase did not previously elaborate on the cause of his illness that led to his hospitalization.
“These are my first few days home,” he told Page Six at the time. “I can only say how happy I am to now be back with my family. I’m feeling good.”
In the documentary, Chase also explained that he was “hurt” by his exclusion from any skits during the 50th anniversary special of “SNL” in February. The Hollywood star got his big break as one of the original cast members of the show.
“It was kind of upsetting, actually,” he said. “This is probably the first time I’m saying it. But I expected that I would’ve been on the stage too with all the other actors.”