Ever since Euphoria and Grey’s Anatomy alum Eric Dane announced his ALS diagnosis in April, he’s been bringing awareness to the disease and keeping fans updated with his health.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and causes progressive paralysis of the muscles.
Despite seeing some setbacks recently, as he’s since lost the use of his right arm, the 52-year-old actor has continued to make appearances and is even set to present at the 2025 Emmys on Sept, 14.
Ahead of Dane’s appearance at the awards ceremony, here’s a look at everything the star has said about his battle with ALS.
“I have been diagnosed with ALS,” the actor shared to People in April. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”
Dane is married to Rebecca Gayheart, and the couple shares two children, Billie Beatrice, 15, and Georgia Geraldine, 13.
“I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to the set of Euphoria next week,” he added. “I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
The ALS Association writes that “Amyotrophic” comes from the Greek language. “A” means no, “myo” refers to muscle, and “Trophic” means nourishment. Altogether, amyotrophic means “no muscle nourishment,” and when a muscle has no nourishment, it “atrophies” or deteriorates.
“Lateral” identifies the areas in a person’s spinal cord where parts of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates, it leads to scarring or hardening (“sclerosis”) in the region.
Motor neurons go from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body, but the progressive weakness of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their demise.
When the motor neurons die, the brain can’t initiate and control muscle movement. When voluntary muscle action is progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move, and breathe.
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People with the illness first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, which is often followed by slurred speech. There’s no cure for ALS, and people usually live three to five years after diagnosis, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. However, some patients can live decades.
In June, Dane sat down for a candid interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on Good Morning America. He revealed the first symptom he experienced about a year and a half ago.
“I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand, and I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” the actor explained. “I thought maybe I had been texting too much or my hand was fatigued. But a few weeks later, I noticed it had gotten a little worse.”
Dane said he went to several hand specialists, then to two neurologists. After nine months of doctors’ appointments, he finally got his “sobering” diagnosis.
Since then, Dane’s right arm — his dominant — has “completely stopped working.” Sawyer asked him, “And then your left arm is fine?”
“No, it’s going,” he replied, adding that he feels he has “a few more months” left of use of his left.
At the time of the interview, he was also “worried” about his legs failing next.
Months before sitting down with Sawyer, the father of two was on a boat trip with one of his daughters when he jumped into the ocean and quickly realized he “couldn’t swim or generate enough power to get [himself] back to the boat.”
He then accepted it, saying, “I’m not safe in the water anymore.” As his daughter “drag[ged]” him back to the boat, Dane was “breaking down in tears.” He added, “I was just heartbroken.”
When asked how “angry” the illness makes him, Dane responded, “Very.” He added, “I’m angry because my father was taken from me when I was young, and now there’s a very good chance I’m going to be taken from my girls while they’re very young.”
In continuing to “fight” the disease, which is largely “out of [his] control,” Dane plans to “spend time with [his] family and work a little bit — if [he] can.” He noted that he doesn’t believe this is “the end” of his story.
“I wake up every day and I’m immediately reminded that this is happening. It’s not a dream,” he said.
“I’m going to ride this till the wheels fall off,” he told E! News in June. “It keeps me sharp. It keeps me moving forward, which is super important right now.”
Dane also share that he feels great at work. “Of course, there have been some sort of setbacks,” he admitted. “But I feel pretty good. My spirit is always pretty buoyant, so at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”
Now, the actor will present at this year’s Emmys, bring more awareness to his illness.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
