‘Hero Of The Hudson’ Sully Sullenberger Reveals Heartbreaking Diagnosis
Article excerpt
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the retired airline captain who safely landed a passenger jet in the Hudson River after both engines failed in 2009, announced Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Sullenberger, 75, announced the diagnosis in a statement on his website Tuesday. “I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease,” he wrote. “It ...
Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, known for saving 155 people aboard an airplane that crashed into the Hudson River in 2009, revealed Tuesday that he has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
“It is early stage,” he said in a statement. “For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well, but I am in the beginning of this long journey.”
Sullenberger, 75, recently spoke with his doctor, who told him Alzheimer’s “spares no age group and impacts millions of people around the world.” The retired pilot described the illness as an “unwanted visitor at the door.”
After debating next steps with his family, he decided to announce the diagnosis to comfort other families that may have a loved one who is battling the disease.
“So this new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service,” Sullenberger said. “And the answer is to speak up. It is my hope that by sharing this, other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward.”
Sullenberger became famous over 17 years ago when he safely landed a US Airways plane in the Hudson River near New York shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport on Jan. 15, 2009. Birds collided with the jet’s engines, causing the emergency landing. All 155 passengers and crew members survived.
The incident became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” The landing and the subsequent investigation were later dramatized in director Clint Eastwood’s 2016 film, Sully, starring actor Tom Hanks in the titular role.
Sullenberger retired from US Airways, which has since merged with American Airlines, in 2010 after spending 30 years as a commercial pilot.
TRUMP SAYS ‘I DON’T KNOW’ ABOUT MCCONNELL’S CONDITION DESPITE HOSPITAL PHOTO
“Though it may impact my memory of the past, this diagnosis will not prevent me from looking forward to and appreciating our future,” he said. “I will navigate this chapter with my wonderful family by my side.”
Sullenberger has his longtime wife, Lorrie, and two daughters to look after him as the disease progresses.