ABC New York anchor Bill Ritter announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease two years after he experienced his first symptoms.
Videos by Suggest
While appearing on Good Morning America on Monday, Ritter said he began “forgetting people’s names and places” two years before doctors officially gave him his diagnosis.
“I didn’t know why this was happening,” he said.
Before his diagnosis, Ritter decided to step away from his channel’s 5 pm and 11 pm newscasts. He will only appear on the 6 pm newscast in order to get “a decent night’s sleep for the first time in 25 years.”
He decided to “get tested” shortly after his newscast change.
“That really was an important thing,” he recalled. “A lot of people say, ‘I’m fine, don’t worry about it. I’m going to be fine.’ No. You gotta go do this.”
Ritter’s Father Was Also Diagnosed With Alzheimer’s Disease
Ritter revealed his diagnosis late last week while announcing his retirement. He noted that his “first reaction” to the diagnosis was to think about his father, who died from the same disease in 1998.
“Then a couple of seconds later, I was scared,” he continued. “I don’t mind saying that. It was scary. Because it was like, ‘Wait a minute, I’m supposed to be doing this. What’s going on here?”
Ritter then shared, “I quickly moved into husband/dad place. Because Alzheimer’s really affects the family most. As a dad and a husband, I said, ‘I gotta deal with this. This is my family. And that’s what I’m really worried about.”
He referred to his family as “the brave ones” in this situation.
Regarding how he is planning to spend his retirement, Ritter noted, “Spending more time with my family has now become even more important, because my life has taken a turn.”
He then shared, “The treatments I’m getting are keeping it at bay. For now. But there is no guarantee, because there’s no cure yet for Alzheimer’s. So, unless someone finds an amazing cure, and soon, tonight will be the last newscast I anchor.”
Ritter has been at ABC New York since 1998. Although he will miss reporting the news, the journalist noted that he will continue working with “Eyewitness News” to help cover the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. He said it was a special “opportunity.”
“After this interview, I’m going to go to our Monday morning meeting at 9 am,” he added. “And then I’m going to go to my desk and have Day 1 of the new job. And that will be to bring people into the tent, because I think that’s what we want.”