Eric Dane makes heartbreaking confession about life with ALS: ‘No reason to be in a good spirit’

Eric Dane is getting candid about what it’s really like living with ALS.

The beloved Greys Anatomy alum revealed he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease earlier this year, but has continued working and making occasional public appearances when possible. 

Last week, he debuted his first on-screen role since receiving his diagnosis, as a firefighter on Brilliant Minds, struggling to tell his wife about his ALS diagnosis.

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Then on Tuesday, December 2, Eric opened up about the importance of being vocal about the devastating disease, in a virtual panel featuring I AM ALS and Synapticure co-founders Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya for Giving Tuesday.

Eric noted that it was difficult to separate himself from his character, who was living something “so real” for him, but he was ultimately  “grateful” for the “cathartic” experience.

“I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day, I don’t think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying,” Eric candidly shared, confessing he was “a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realized that I wasn’t built like that, because I thought for sure that was gonna be me.”

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He added that he found it “very encouraging” to know that he can actually have a “buoyant spirit in the face of something” as “horrible” as ALS is, for which the life expectancy is two to five years after diagnosis for some.

“It’s imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore,” he maintained, though did note that his experience on Brilliant Minds was “one of a kind” and he’s not sure he’d “ever do it again for anybody else.”

“You know, obviously, I have a family at home, and they’re the priority. But this is such a big deal to me,” he also shared. “I make sure that people are aware of what ALS is and what it’s about, and more importantly, what we can do to combat it and improve the landscape, because it’s so rocky and littered with hurdles and bureaucracy and all this other nonsense that we’re trying to sift through so we can get to a place where we go, start working on solution.”

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Eric has been married to fellow actress Rebecca Gayheart since 2004, and they are parents to daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13. They filed for divorce in 2018, however the divorce was never legally finalized, and the mother-of-two filed for its dismissal in March, prior to Eric confirming his diagnosis; the two remain married but separated. 

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Rebecca, speaking with E! News about the former couple’s decision to dismiss their divorce filing, said: “We are best of friends. We are really close. We are great co-parents,” adding: “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 went on, emphasizing: “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.”