Hero pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III revealed he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
“I recently found out I have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease,” he told PEOPLE, sharing that he was officially diagnosed in August 2025. “It is early stage. 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 rose to international fame following his heroic landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009, saving all 155 passengers. He is now one of 7.2 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s.
“My doctor, Dr. Gil Rabinovici with UCSF Medical Center, has opened my eyes to the prevalence of Alzheimer’s,” he explained. “This disease, he has told me, spares no age group and impacts millions of people around the world. It is the unwanted visitor at the door.”
His wife Lorrie shared that the effects of the disease so far are minimal, and that they are living each day with “hope” and “joy.”
“Just as he was the same steady person before and after Flight 1549, he is the same steady person now, before and after this diagnosis,” she explained. “That strength and steadiness is guiding us as a family. We’re supporting him on this journey that we now walk with so many other families. Though the future is uncertain, we continue to live our lives, have hope, and find joy in the everyday.”
Now, Sullenberger hopes to use his position to raise awareness for those with Alzheimer’s.
“This new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service,” he 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 continued, “Over the years, when people would ask about the successful outcome of Flight 1549, I would say that ‘courage can be contagious,’ and on that day it helped everyone band together to get everyone off that airplane successfully. Now we need that courage to battle this disease. I am now part of a larger community with many of you, and we will be courageous together.”
Many other famous figures have spoken up about Alzheimer’s, including THOR actor Chris Hemsworth, who discovered he has an increased predisposition to the condition. The diagnosis was revealed in an episode of his show, LIMITLESS, and Hemsworth said he was asked by producers if he wanted to share this information on-camera or not.
“I thought, ‘No, look, if this is a motivator for people to take better care of themselves and also understand that there are steps you can take — then fantastic,’” he said. “My concern was I just didn’t want to manipulate it and overdramatize it, and make it into some sort of hokey grab at empathy or whatever for entertainment.”
Comedian Seth Rogen has also spoken publicly about the disease; he and his wife were caregivers for his mother-in-law following her diagnosis. She passed away in 2020.
“Being a part of a family that is dealing with this thing changes my day-to-day life immensely,” he wrote in a 2014 essay for Glamour. “We help financially…and socially…The depressing thing about Alzheimer’s is you can’t do anything a lot of the time.”
Sullenberger is one of millions of Americans who are living with Alzheimer’s and now hopes to support and raise awareness for those impacted by the disease.
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