Hero pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger revealed Wednesday that his biggest fear about his Alzheimer’s Disease is that it has left him on his “last flight.”
The 75-year-old “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot told ABC News that he is trying to put a positive perspective on the diagnosis he revealed in July after the initial “shock, anger” left him asking, “Why me?”
“I’ve done harder things than this before,” insisted the pilot who safely landed a US Airways jet in New York’s Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009, saving all 155 passengers on board.
Asked what his biggest fear was, he said, “That this is my last flight.”
“But if this has to be my last flight, I’m going to go out using a full afterburner,” he vowed.
Sullenberger said the symptoms of the progressive brain disease crept up on him slowly, as he urged people to get tested as soon as they see even the slightest symptoms.
“One of the first things I noticed was it was harder and harder to remember people’s names, even people we knew. That’s still an issue,” he told “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts.
“Just forgetting things I normally wouldn’t, or repeating myself not realizing I had just said that an hour ago. And then having to look at my calendar every day to keep track of all the events that I have,” he said.
“An early diagnosis is so critically important. If you have doubts, get tested, because the sooner you act, the more options there are, the better the outcome is likely to be,” he urged.
Despite his initial “shock, anger,” he now takes comfort in knowing he and Lorrie “are not by any means alone.”
“We’re part of this community who are trying to make the best of a bad situation,” he said.
Although he’s receiving monthly infusion treatments that can temporarily beat back the symptoms, he acknowledges it’s “inevitable” that it will continue to progress.
He worries about being a burden on his wife, who will be his caregiver as they navigate the unknown together in the coming years, and said her hardship is something he will be “very aware of.”
Lorrie, for her part, sounded ready to tackle whatever comes next despite the uncertainty.
“My plan right now is to take it one day at a time. I have no idea what’s coming,” she said.
“That this is my last flight. But if this has to be my last flight, I’m going to go out using a full afterburner.”
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