ACTOR Eric Dane has broken his silence about his ALS battle in an emotional interview.
Dane, 52, broke down in tears and told Good Morning America’s Diane Sawyer, “I don’t think this is the end of my story.”
The former Grey’s Anatomy star was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological disorder after he started experiencing weakness in his right hand a year and a half ago.
He said he didn’t think anything of it at first – but then received the shocking diagnosis.
“I have one functional arm,” Dane told Diane Sawyer.
“My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working.
“I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won’t have my left hand either. It’s sobering.”
He broke down in tears speaking about his wife, Rebecca.
“We have managed to become better friends and better parents,” he said.
“She is probably my biggest champion and my most stalwart supporter. And I lean on her.”
Dane said he initially believed his symptoms were caused by “texting too much”.
He told Sawyer: “I started experiencing some weakness in my right hand and I didnt really think anything of it at the time. I thought maybe I had been texting too much and my hand was fatigued.
Eric Dane’s Brave Battle: ALS Diagnosis and a Triumphant Return to Work
“A few weeks later I noticed it got a little worse, so I went and saw a hand specialist who sent me to another hand specialist.
“And I went and saw a neurologist and then the neurologist sent me to another neurologise, who said this is way above my pay grade.”
After nine months he was told he had the devastating and incurable disease.
ALS a rare condition causing muscle weakness that gets worse over time and for which there is no cure.
“I will never forget those three letters.
“It’s on me the second I wake up. It’s not a dream,” he admitted.
A big fear now is losing his ability to walk, adding: “I’m worried about my legs.”
Dane had been a competitive swimmer and was an athlete in high school, playing on the boys’ varsity water polo team.
He shares two daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, with his wife Rebecca.
Just a couple of months ago, the actor was on a boat trip with his daughter when his illness hit him.
The Euphoria star said: “When I jumped into the ocean that day and realised I couldn’t generate enough power to get myself to the boat. I thought, oh god. I’m not safe to be in the water.
“She dragged me back to the boat. I was breaking down in tears. I made sure she got back in the water and continued snorkelling with the guide. But I was heartbroken.”
Why is it called Lou Gehrig’s disease?
ALS, the most common type of MND, is also known as Charcot disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Henry Louis “Lou” Gehrig was born in the US in 1903, and was a successful baseball player.
He held many records in his day, including the most career grand slams, 23, broken in 2013, and the most consecutive games played, 2,130 which stood for 56 years.
Nicknamed The Iron Horse, he had a stellar career but his performance nosedived, and he was diagnosed with ALS on his 36th birthday in June 1939.
Two days after his diagnosis, he retired from the sport and his condition was made public.
Just two years later, on June 2 1941, Gehrig passed away.
Due to his fame, ALS is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease in North America.
Dane, who’s own father died by suicide when he was just seven years old, is determined to fight the disease.
“I just don’t feel like in my heart this is the end of me. I’m fighting as much as I can,” he said.
“There’s so much about it that’s out of my control.
“I’m angry because my father was taken from me when I was young.
“Now there is a very good chance that I’m going to be taken from my girls when they are very young.
“I mean I really at the end of the day, all I want to do is spend time with my family and work a little bit if I can.”
Speaking of his family, Dane added: “They’re loved. They know it.”
Eric first revealed his diagnosis in April and said he will be returning to the set of Euphoria.
In the hit show, Eric plays the role of Cal Jacobs, father of Jacob Elordi’s character, Nate Jacobs.
According to the Mayo Clinic, ALS “affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord” and “causes loss of muscle control”.
The disease gets worse over time and eventually leads to death.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is the most common type of motor neuron disease (MND).
It “often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, trouble swallowing or slurred speech”, the Mayo Clinic states.
Eventually ALS affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe. There is no cure for it.
