Chevy Chase Reveals That He Was in a Coma During Heart Failure Hospitalization, Which He Says Led to Memory Loss

Chevy Chase and his loved ones are opening up about his previous hospitalization for heart failure, which they said caused memory loss.

As Chevy, 82, was asked about various disputes and incidents from his career — including from both Community and Saturday Night Live — in the new, authorized CNN documentary, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, he said he did not recall them. His daughter, Caley Chase, said this is due, at least in part, to “basically came back from the dead.”

After an interviewer noted the complication of making a doc when the comedian “doesn’t remember certain things,” Caley, 40, had an emotional moment while reflecting on the heart failure her father suffered in 2021. The “heart issue,” as Chevy described it at the time, led to a five-week hospital stay, PEOPLE previously reported.

“Well, I mean, he’s 80-something and has basically come back from the dead,” Caley said in the forthcoming doc, which premieres Jan. 1 on CNN, before becoming visibly emotional as she recalled the incident: “Oh my God, he had heart failure. Have they talked about that at all? It’s so hard to talk about.”

The actor’s wife, Jayni Chase, who was also interviewed for the documentary, said it was cardiomyopathy.

“Something was wrong, and he couldn’t explain to me what was wrong. So, we go to the ER. His heart stops,” said Jayni, who has been married to Chevy since 1982. “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.”

Chevy’s longtime friend, Peter Aaron, said in the documentary that doctors “decided to put him into a coma for maybe eight days.” Aaron also stated that he thinks Chevy’s “memory gaps come from that incident.”

The National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation star also opened up about his memory loss, stating that doctors have attributed it to the 2021 incident.

“According to the doctors, my memory would be shot from it, and that’s what’s happened here,” he said in the doc, before revealing that he played card games and chess to improve his “cognitive disability” following the hospitalization.

“Heart failure is what it is,” added Chevy. “I’m fine now. It’s just that it affects your memory, and the doctors have told me that, so, I have to be reminded of things.”

Two of his three daughters, Caley and Cydney Chase, both reflected on the incident in I’m Chevy Chase.

“It was so scary when he was in the hospital. We were all there, it was during COVID,” said Cydney, 42. Caley, meanwhile, recalled receiving warnings from the doctor along the lines of “we might not get him back,” “we don’t know how present he’ll be” and “prepare yourselves for the worst.”

But, Caley said, she knew her dad was back when he cracked a joke toward a nurse who came into his hospital room: “She said, ‘I’m going to have to put this in here.’ And he said, ‘That’s what she said.’ ”

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After returning home from the hospital in 2021, Chevy told Page Six he had suffered a “heart issue,” but did not disclose any further details about the nature of the issue or reveal that he had been in a coma.

“These are my first few days home. I can only say how happy I am to now be back with my family. I’m feeling good,” he said at the time. “I was in the hospital [for] five weeks. A heart issue. So, for now, I’m around the house.”

Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Marina Zenovich, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not features interviews with Chase’s family and friends, as well as stars including Ryan Reynolds, Lorne Michaels, Martin Short, Goldie Hawn and Dan Aykroyd.

I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not premieres Jan. 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CNN.