Nearly a year after he disclosed his ASL diagnosis with the public, actor Eric Dane, best known for his portrayal of Dr Mark Sloan, aka McSteamy, in Grey’s Anatomy, passed away aged 53.
The news of his passing has been confirmed by his family.
“With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,” Dane’s family’s statement shared with People read. “He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world.”
“Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight. He will be deeply missed, and lovingly remembered always. Eric adored his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he’s received. The family has asked for privacy as they navigate this impossible time.”
ASL is a “rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and lower motor neurons that normally control voluntary muscle contraction,” according to ASL Association.
Speaking of his hesitation to go public with the diagnosis, Dane told The Washington Post, “It wasn’t something I ever really wanted to do, it was something I felt like I had to do.
“It was getting increasingly difficult to hide what was going on. And instead of letting people speculate what was happening, I just said it. … And I’ve never experienced a bigger outpouring of love and support than I have after I announced that.”
Dane also spoke of the first symptoms he experienced.
Appearing on Good Morning America, he revealed, “I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand, and I didn’t really think anything of it at the time.
“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, so I went and saw a hand specialist, and he sent me to another hand specialist.”
The actor continued, “I went and saw a neurologist and they sent me to another neurologist and said this is way above [his] pay grade.”
Doctors were only able to diagnose him nine months after he had experienced the initial symptoms.
“I have one functioning arm, my dominant side is [my right], my left side is functioning, my right side is completely stopped working.”
Dane concluded. “My left arm is going, I feel like a couple few more months and I wont have my left either, it is sobering.”
Now, Eric Dane’s wife Rebecca Gayheart, who filed for divorce back in 2018 but withdrew it shortly before Eric’s diagnosis became known to the public, spoke of some of the early symptoms she noticed at her late husband prior to the diagnosis.
In an essay for The Cut, Rebecca recalled how Eric struggled to use his chopsticks while eating and how he’s drop his food.
“His symptoms started maybe a year prior. When we would have a meal with the kids, he’d say things like, ‘Something’s wrong with my hand,’” she wrote. “He was struggling to use his chopsticks, dropping his food. That was when he started seeing doctors. He was initially diagnosed with a few other things, but he had this sinking feeling that it was something more serious.”
She then recalled the moment Dane shared with her his diagnosis.
“When he told me that day, he just started weeping, as did I,” Gayheart recalled. “It didn’t feel real because he was still okay.”
She continued: “I was here at home with my youngest daughter — my home, that I share with just the girls, since Eric and I separated in September 2017 — and I’d gone into my closet to take the call, trying to be private. She was saying, ‘Mommy, what’s wrong? What’s wrong?’ I tried telling her, ‘Honey, nothing. Everything’s fine,’ because I couldn’t process it. I didn’t know all the details like I do now, but I knew enough about ALS to know that there wasn’t a cure.”
In the past, during an appearance on the Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen podcast, Gayheart also revealed why she never proceeded with the divorce, saying she wanted to be an example to her daughters.
And he is our family, he is your father. We show up and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it, and that we will get through it the best we can,” Gayheart said. “I mean, it’s super complicated for me.”
Eric Dane is the latest high-profile personality to pass away from ALS. Others who have suffered from the same disease include baseball legend Lou Gehrig, after whom the disease is often named Lou Gehrig’s disease, physician Stephen Hawking, Sesame Street co-founder Jon Stone, and jazz bassist Charles Mingus.
Rest in peace, Eric Dane.