“Grey’s Anatomy” alum Eric Dane gave an update Tuesday on his life with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the debilitating nervous system condition commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
After first sharing his diagnosis with the public in April, Dane has become an ambassador for the nonprofit I AM ALS. He joined the group’s co-founders on Tuesday for a virtual panel that also featured “Brilliant Minds” creator Michael Grassi.
“I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day,” Dane told the panel, adding, “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.”
He continued, “I 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.”
While continuing his acting career has been a challenge, Dane did recently star on “Brilliant Minds” as a firefighter who is having a hard time telling his wife that he’s been diagnosed with ALS. It was his first onscreen role since the actor announced his own real-life condition, according to People.
Dane called that experience “one of a kind” on Tuesday, and suggested he’d found a newfound purpose in sharing his journey with as many people as possible, “because I don’t feel like my life is about me anymore.”
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There is currently no cure for ALS, which is progressive and worsens over time.
Dane revealed in June that he only had “one functioning arm” as a result of the condition, which affects nerve cells in both the brain and spinal cord and causes a loss of muscle control.
As an I AM ALS ambassador, Dane has met with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) in Washington and shared his personal testimony at a press conference led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The actor said Tuesday that he’s trying to advocate for more research into ALS to “improve the landscape,” which he described as “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 can start working on solutions.”
His efforts come during a precarious time: The 2021 Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act, which provides people with early access to treatments and secured five years of federal funding for related research, is set to expire next year.
You can watch Dane’s remarks and the full panel discussion here.
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