Chris Johnsons wife reveals the hardest part about ex-NFL stars tragic ALS battle
Chris Johnson’s wife, Brittany, was candid on her role as his full-time caregiver after the former All-Pro running back was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in May 2025.During an interview with Sports Illustrated, Chris and Brittany, who’ve been married for 10 years, shared some of the behind-the-scenes of their life as his condition deteriorates due to the incurable disease.ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive disease in which a person’s brain loses connection with the muscles, slowly taking away their ability to walk, talk, eat and eventually breathe.“The hardest part is just watching little pieces of him be torn away and just trying to imagine exactly what it is that he’s feeling.
And then immediately after that, it’s the kids,” Brittany said of their 8-year-old daughter Honey and 14-year-old twin boys Kaden and Chris Jr.“So much has been taken from them in a short period of time.
We were a really full family that did so many things.A lot of those things were physical.
Chris is very hands-on with the kids and their sports, and he was very big on exercising.Honey would go out on five-mile walks with him, and sometimes she would give up, but she enjoyed those things.
If it wasn’t that, then every day there’s practice, and then on the weekend there’s the games.He’s always been right there on the sidelines, coaching them.”The 40-year-old Johnson can no longer speak, and he has a bypass machine that pumps oxygen every four seconds, according to Sports Illustrated.
He can’t keep his head fully upright and he can’t take a step without significant assistance.His meals and nutritional supplements are fed to him by Brittany.Johnson communicates with a device that he controls with his eye movements.
He recorded his voice to incorporate it into the device before he lost his ability to speak.Most days are filled with physical therapy, doctors appointments and taking vitamins and trial meds in an ef...