‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease
“Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease amid his battle with a blood disorder, according to his family.
The 78-year-old’s health struggles were revealed by his son, Jase, on Friday’s episode of the “Unashamed with the Robertson Family” podcast titled “Phil’s Diagnosis.”
“Phil’s not doing well,” Jase said. “According to the doctors, they’re sure that he has some sort of blood disease that’s causing all kinds of problems.”
The Robertson patriarch had been fighting the blood disease for a “few years” but Jase said that it has now “accelerated.”
“It’s causing problems with his entire body and he has early stages of Alzheimer’s so if you put those things together, he’s just not doing well. He’s really struggling,” Jace revealed.
The Louisianian duck hunter who played a large part in the podcast — which is centered on the family’s Christian faith — has insisted he wants to come back to the show.
“I’m like ‘Phil, you can barely walk around without you know, crying out in pain and I’m like ‘you know, your memory is not what it once was,’” Jase said.”
“You have good days and bad days,” his son Alan Robertson added. “It’s the same with dad. They’re will be some days he’s a little better, you know, a little more witty but other days not so much.”
Phil’s sons claim that unless a “supernatural intervention” by God took place, their father’s health and memory likely won’t improve so they’re trying to make him as comfortable as he can be.
“We have a team of doctors then we have another set of doctors who are looking at all of the tests and they’re all in agreement that there is no curing what he has,” Jase said. “What do you do? We’re trying to make him a little more comfortable.”
Jase added that the family initially didn’t know what the problem was, but said they are “far along in the process to know these things as facts.”
He said that Phil joined them on the opening day of duck season in November and realized his father’s condition was worsening.
The outspoken outdoorsman “did not fire his weapon at all” nor speak much during “one of the best opening days we’ve ever had” as the family shot 32 ducks.
“After the hunt, he said, ‘Jase, I was miserable,” he recalled. “He was just hurting and he couldn’t do anything. He just said ‘’y’all don’t call me, I’ll call you when I’m ready to go back.’
“If he’s unable to go duck hunting, that tells you all you need to know.”
Phil formed his hunting company Duck Commander in 1973. The Robertson family starred in the hit A&E show from 2012 before the series ended in 2017.
Phil married Kay Robertson in 1966 and they have four kids. In 2020 Phil discovered that he had a daughter named Phyliss, who is now in her late 40s, with a woman he had an affair with decades ago.
