Eric Dane, star of Grey’s Anatomy, has acknowledged receiving a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
According to the Mayo Clinic, the 52-year-old Californian actor has acknowledged that he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disease that damages brain and spinal cord nerve cells and worsens with time.
Speaking about his diagnosis to PEOPLE, Dane said, “I have been diagnosed with ALS. I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”
Georgia Geraldine, 13, and Billie Beatrice, 15, are the couple’s two children. The Charmed alumnus married Rebecca Gayheart in 2004.
On April 14, Dane, who also plays the patriarch of the Jacobs family in the popular HBO series Euphoria, will begin filming season three, which he promises to be a part of.
“I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to set of Euphoria next week,” he stated. “I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
ALS affects muscle control and is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, named after the baseball player who had it. It begins with minor symptoms like weakness and twitches in an arm or leg, or trouble speaking or swallowing, and gradually affects the muscles required for breathing, eating, moving, and speaking.
According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the condition is deadly and incurable; however, some patients may live for many years after being diagnosed.
News of Dane’s health emerged weeks after Gayheart filed a lawsuit to have her divorce from the actor dismissed.
According to US Weekly, the 53-year-old and Dane filed for divorce in 2018 after 14 years of marriage, claiming that their disagreements were insurmountable at the time.
Prior to Dane disclosing his ALS, Gayheart also told E! News that the pair had been concentrating on their family.
“We are best of friends. We are really close. We are great coparents,” she said. “We really figured out the formula to staying a family and I think our kids are benefiting greatly from it and we are as well.”
“I think it’s important to not look at a relationship that ends as a failure. It’s just a season. It wasn’t a failure. It was a huge success,” she added. “We were married for, I mean, we are still married, but together for 15 years and we had two beautiful kids so I think that’s a successful relationship, and that’s how we look at it.”
The British physicist, scientist, and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, singer Joe Bonsall, actor Aaron Lazar, musician John Driskell Hopkins, American football fullback Eric Stevens, singer and pianist Roberta Flack, and Canadian actor Kenneth Mitchell are among the other well-known individuals who have been diagnosed with ALS.
Please SHARE this story with Family and Friends and let us know your opinion on this!
