“Grey’s Anatomy” star Eric Dane is telling his story eight months after his death.
In a new memoir, “My Book of Days,” Dane opened up about the moment he told longtime partent and mother of his children Rebecca Gayheart about his ALS diagnosis.
“I say to Rebecca on the phone, ‘It’s what we feared.’ I don’t remember a single word I said after that,” Dane wrote in his upcoming memoir, as seen in an excerpt published by People. “I remember only feeling a violent impact, like getting the wind knocked out of me, and Rebecca wailing on the other end of the phone, and then I really lose it, and my sobs make my body shudder, and I hear her words pouring out amid her tears, ‘I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere.”
Eric Dane’s Diagnosis
According to his memoir, Dane first started noticing something wasn’t right in January 2024.
“I’m eating sushi with my kids and suddenly I can’t work the chopsticks with my right hand. My hand tingles, and then my fingers feel numb. Some kind of weird nerve thing, I think. I shake it off. I’m probably texting too much. Three weeks later, it happens again, only worse. I can’t grip the chopsticks at all,” he explained.
It took nine months to receive his diagnosis. Following his diagnosis, Dane vowed to fight.
“I’m going to take this on. I’m going to fight. I’m going to show my girls how to walk through this life with grace and dignity, no matter what,” he wrote. “I am going to FIGHT. This has become my purpose. My reason. This is now my job.”
Dane fought the degenerative disease privately for more than a year. It wasn’t until April 2025 that he publicly announced his battle.
“I have been diagnosed with ALS,” he told People at the time. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”
Dane added, “I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to set of ‘Euphoria’ next week. I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
Eric Dane’s Death
Dane died on February 19, 2026, at the age of 53.
“With heavy hearts, we share that Eric Dane passed on Thursday afternoon following a courageous battle with ALS,” his family said in a statement. “He will be deeply missed, and lovingly remembered always. Eric adored his fans and is forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support he’s received.”
Dane and Gayheart shared two daughters, Georgia and Billie, “who were the center of his world.”
Prior to his death, the beloved actor recorded a message to his daughters.
“Billie and Georgia, these words are for you,” he said in a message released after his death. “I tried. I stumbled sometimes, but I tried. Overall, we had a blast, didn’t we?”
He added, “Fight with every ounce of your being and with dignity. When you face challenges, health or otherwise, fight. Never give up. Fight until your last breath. This disease is slowly taking my body, but it will never take my spirit.”
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Eric Dane Detailed the Moment He Told Rebecca Gayheart About ALS Diagnosis in New Memoir