Eric Dane brought to tears during first interview since revealing ALS diagnosis
Eric Dane is opening up about his ALS diagnosis for the first time.
The 52-year-old “Grey’s Anatomy” alum, who revealed in April that he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), was brought to tears during a recent interview with “Good Morning America.”
On June 12, GMA shared a 30-second snippet of the interview on social media.
“I wake up every day and I’m immediately reminded that this is happening,” Dane told GMA’s Diane Sawyer in the clip. “It’s not a dream.”
Despite the diagnosis, Dane remains positive and optimistic about his future.
“I don’t think this is the end of my story. I don’t feel like this is the end of me,” Dane said in his interview with Diane Sawyer.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is “a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord,” per The ALS Association.
The disease causes a person’s brain to lose connection with the muscles in their body, slowly taking away their ability to walk, talk, dress, write, eat, swallow and, eventually, breathe.
The average life expectancy once someone is diagnosed with ALS is three years, according to The ALS Association.
Dane’s interview, which is set to air Monday, June 16, comes two months after the “Euphoria” star revealed his diagnosis in an exclusive interview with People, published April 10.
“I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,” he told the outlet.
The actor clarified at the time that his diagnosis wasn’t stopping him from working and he had already returned to the set of “Euphoria,” which began production for its third season on April 14, People reported.
“I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time,” Dane added at the time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that less than 30,000 people have ALS in the United States today — and roughly 5,000 new patients are diagnosed every year.
There’s currently no cure for it and it “almost always progresses” once it starts, per The ALS Association, but some treatments can help slow its rate of progression and improve the patient’s quality of life.
Dane shares two children — Billie Beatrice, 15, and Georgia Geraldine, 13 — with his wife, Rebecca Gayheart, per Today.
