Eric Dane Breaks Down Where He Is Now With ALS: "I have one functioning arm"
American artist Eric Dane , who became known worldwide as Mark Sloane "Doctor McSteamy" in the hit series Grey's Anatomy and is currently part of the cast of Euphoria, gave his first interview since revealing that he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
In an intimate and moving conversation with legendary journalist Diane Sawyer for Good Morning America, Dane, 52, recalled what her first symptoms were a year and a half ago and what it was like to receive her diagnosis.
"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'd been texting too much and my hand was fatigued," told Diane Sawyer, his voice perhaps sounding a little slower and thicker than usual.
"But a few weeks later I noticed that it had gotten a little worse. So 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,'" he recalled.
It took nine months to get the diagnosis: He had ALS.
"I will never forget those three letters. It's on me the second I wake up. It's not a dream", he recalled.
@gma Actor Eric Dane speaks out about his diagnosis with degenerative neurological disorder ALS and shares when symptoms first began: “I will never forget those three letters. It’s on me the second I wake up. It’s not a dream.” #ericdane #ALS #health #diagnosis #greysanatomy
♬ original sound - Good Morning America - Good Morning America
How is Eric Dane doing now?
The life expectancy of ALS patients varies from person to person, although it rarely exceeds five years. The artist declared himself determined to fight the disease with all his might. His main concern is that his daughters are still young.
In fact, one of the most striking anecdotes she recounted was how she almost drowned while she was in the ocean with her daughter. "She saved me," she said, recalling how, while in the water, she felt weak enough to swim.
"I have one functioning arm. My dominant side. My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working," he said about the upper part of his body.
However, he is worrying about the progression of the illness on his left side. "It's going. I feel like maybe a couple, few more months, and I won't have my left hand either. It's sobering."
However, he isn't giving up. Days after the interview, Dane was planning to enter the studios of the hit HBO series Euphoria , perhaps for the last time to play his character Cal Jacobs, the father of Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi).
The actor still has control of his legs.
