The disclosure comes from I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, a documentary premiering January 1 on CNN. While it was reported back in 2021 that Chase spent five weeks in the hospital for heart-related issues, the full severity of what happened is only now coming to light.
“[He] has basically come back from the dead. He had heart failure,” Chase’s daughter, Caley Chase, says in the film.
According to Chase’s wife, Jayni Chase, the crisis escalated quickly. She recalled taking him to the emergency room when something felt wrong and he couldn’t explain what he was experiencing. “His heart stops,” she said in the documentary.
Doctors later determined Chase had developed cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle becomes weak and struggles to pump blood effectively. Jayni explained that years of heavy drinking contributed to the condition.
Because of the seriousness of his state, doctors made the difficult decision to place him in a coma. “They decided to put him into a coma for maybe eight days,” said longtime friend Peter Aaron. “That’s pretty rough on the body.”
The family was warned to prepare for the worst. “The doctor had warned us: ‘We might not get him back. We don’t know how present he’ll be,’” Caley said. When Chase finally woke up, he was badly disoriented and could initially only use his voice.
Still, a familiar spark soon returned. Caley knew her father was truly back when he cracked a joke at a nurse adjusting medical equipment. His response: “That’s what she said.”
Recovery, however, was not instant. Aaron explained that Chase needed time to “reorient himself” and worked through cognitive difficulties by playing cards and chess to get his mind back on track. In a statement released in 2021, Chase said he was grateful simply to be home again, adding that he was “feeling good” after the long hospital stay.
The documentary also connects the health scare to Chase’s ongoing memory problems. “I feel like his memory gaps come from that incident,” Aaron said.
Chase agrees. “According to the doctors, my memory would be shot from it,” he said. “That’s what’s happened here.”
Those memory issues come up repeatedly in the film, especially when Chase is confronted with past controversies, including tense on-set moments from Saturday Night Live and Community. In many cases, he says he simply doesn’t remember the incidents.
“Heart failure is what it is. I’m fine now,” Chase said. “It’s just that it affects your memory. So, I have to be reminded of things.”
At 82, the documentary shows Chase reflecting on survival, aging, and the long shadow left by a medical emergency that nearly took his life — and changed it forever.
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