NFL legend Gale Sayers opens up about ongoing battles with dementia
Gale Sayers and his family have provided an update on the former running back’s battle with dementia.
In March, the Western Journal first told readers about the Hall of Famer’s condition, which, as expected, has deteriorated with time.
Recently, Sayers and his wife, Ardythe, spent a day with Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star to share some of the details of his life.
Ardythe Sayers says her husband is as healthy “as a horse” physically, but also points out, “That brain controls everything, doesn’t it?”
The “Kansas Comet” was first diagnosed about four years ago, but didn’t go public with his illness earlier this year.
The reason for waiting, the family says, is because they wanted to control the message, and not subject the Bears’ legend to rumors and innuendos.
“You have people who have a little less moral stature than you would like to see in society,” Sayers’ brother Roger said.
While Gale Sayers works out with a trainer on a daily basis, Ardie Sayers says she and her husband practice his ability to sign his own name.
“I say, ‘OK, come on, let’s fill up this page, I’ll write one, and then you write one.’
“At times you can wait 30 minutes, or maybe 10 minutes. And then he’ll do it like there’s never been anything wrong. It takes a lot of patience.”
Gale and Ardie currently live in Wakarusa, Indiana.
The support of a close-knit community has done wonders for Sayers and his wife.
“They know what’s happening, but you see the attitude they have toward him?” she said of the community. “It’s not backing off. It’s embracing and saying to me, ‘Ardie, if you need some help, you know where I am.’”
Doctors suggested moving Gale Sayers to a facility so they could better monitor his situation, but his wife wasn’t going to allow him to begin to feel self pity.
“No, he’s still got a lot going for himself, and I don’t want him to forget it,” she said.
“That’s a part of relationships, that’s a part of marriage: You don’t walk away from a person when they’re sick,” she added. “That’s when you dig in and help and do what you have to do.
“It’s hard, yes, I’m not saying it isn’t. And it’s challenging at times.”
As Roger Sayers says of what his brother is going through, “You build memories all your life, and the next thing you know you don’t remember anything. It’s just tough.”
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