Two years before Bill Ritter was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, he began “forgetting people’s names and places.”
An ABC New York anchor told “Good Morning America” viewers on Monday that he was leaving the channel’s 11pm and 5pm newscasts because he “didn’t understand why this was happening.”
Just by attending the 6pm show, the 76-year-old man was able to get his “first proper sleep in 25 years”, but his symptoms had not “improved”.
That’s when Ritter knew “I had to get tested.”
“That was really important. A lot of people are telling me, ‘It’s okay, don’t worry, it’s okay,'” he recalled. No, you have to do this.
Ritter, who made his diagnosis public while announcing his retirement on Friday, said his “initial reaction” to the results was that his father “came to mind.”
Notably, Ritter’s father died from the same disease in 1998.
“Then a few seconds later I got scared,” Ritter recalled. “I don’t mind saying that. It was scary because I was like, ‘Wait a minute, I’m supposed to be doing this, what’s going on here?'”
“I immediately moved to my husband/father’s place,” the journalist continued. “Because Alzheimer’s really affects families the most. As a father, as a husband, I said, ‘We have to deal with this. This is my family. And that’s what I’m really worried about.'”
He called his loved ones “brave people” in a tragic situation.
“As my life has changed for the better, it has become even more important for me to spend more time with my family,” Ritter said Friday when she revealed her diagnosis.
He added, “Thanks to the treatment I’m receiving, Alzheimer’s disease is at bay, for now. But there are no guarantees, because there is still no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. So unless someone finds an amazing cure, tonight will soon be the last news show I anchor.”
Ritter, who has been with WABC since June 1998, said, “I’m going to really miss reporting the news.”
However, he plans to continue working with Eyewitness News to support Alzheimer’s coverage. This is a special “occasion” he addressed on Monday’s “GMA.”
“After this interview, I’m going to my morning meeting at 9 a.m. Monday…then I’m going to go to my desk and start my first day at my new job,” Ritter said. “And that’s going to bring people into the tent, because I think that’s what we want.”
