Chevy Chase’s Journey Through Heart Failure and Recovery After His 2021 Coma
Chevy Chase faced a severe health crisis during the pandemic, suffering from “near-fatal” heart failure that resulted in an eight-day coma, according to an upcoming CNN Films documentary titled I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not.
Chase’s daughter, Caley Chase, remarked that her father had “basically come back from the dead.”
Although details of his health scare became public in 2021, the seriousness of his condition was not fully disclosed until now. The former SNL cast member mentioned to Page Six that he spent five weeks in the hospital recuperating.
In the documentary, Chase’s wife, Jayni, recalled the alarming moments leading up to his emergency hospitalization: “Something was wrong, and he couldn’t explain to me what was wrong. So, we go to the ER. His heart stops. 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.”
A friend of Chase’s, Peter Aaron, disclosed that medical professionals opted to place him in a coma for “maybe eight days,” noting, “That’s pretty rough on the body.”
Caley Chase recounted that doctors had warned them, “We might not get him back. We don’t know how present he’ll be. Prepare yourselves for the worst.” Fortunately, he emerged from the coma, though his initial recovery left him with significant memory challenges.
Reflecting on his struggles, Chase confirmed, “According to the doctors, my memory would be shot from it. That’s what’s happened here.” He added, “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.”
When discussing his past controversies and reported difficult behavior on set, Chase expressed that he did not recall specific incidents.
The documentary also covered his feelings about being excluded from the SNL50: The Anniversary Special. Chase admitted he was “hurt” by the omission, despite attending the event. “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,” he said. “When [co-stars] Garrett [Morris] and Laraine [Newman] went on the stage there, I was curious as to why I didn’t. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?”
