Eric Dane has 'one functioning arm,' worries about future mobility with ALS
“Grey’s Anatomy” star Eric Dane revealed he is slowly losing mobility due to his ALS.
During his sit-down interview for “Good Morning America” with Diane Sawyer, Dane said he is losing function in his limbs.
“I have one functioning arm. My left side is functioning,” he said, explaining that his dominant hand, his right, “has completely stopped working.”
And unfortunately, he is already feeling the effects on his working hand.
“[My left arm] is going. I feel like maybe a couple, a few more months and I won’t have my left. I’m worried about my legs.”
The 52-year-old recalled that he first started experiencing symptoms over a year ago, noticing weakness in his right hand.
“And I didn’t really think anything of it at the time, I thought maybe I’d been texting too much and my hand was fatigued,” he recalled. “A few weeks later, I noticed it’d gotten a little worse. I went and saw a hand specialist, who sent me to another hand specialist. I went and saw a neurologist, and the neurologist sent me to another neurologist and said, ‘This is way above my pay grade.’
After nine months, he finally received his life-altering diagnosis.
"I will never forget those three letters,” he said. “It’s on me the second I wake up. It’s not a dream.”
Dane is struggling with ALS, a neurological disease that damages nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, which worsens over time, leading to loss of muscle control and eventually paralysis.
Even with a difficult future ahead of him, the actor is remaining positive.
“I don’t think this is the end of my story. I don’t feel like this is the end of me,” he said.
Dane wants to continue working as he’s able to, and focus on his daughters, Georgia and Billie, with actress Rebecca Gayheart.
“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. They’re loved. They know it.”
Dane’s full “Good Morning America” interview is available online, and will continue tomorrow, when he sits down with his doctor for more details on his condition.
