As Eric Dane faced the final moments of his life, his family fought to hold on to every precious moment.
Rebecca Gayheart, who remained close to Dane after they separated in 2018, opened up about his final months battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the toll it took on their two daughters and how she’s keeping his memory alive.
Dane died Feb. 19, less than a year after publicly revealing his ALS diagnosis.
“We tried to be present through all of our fear and frustration and uncertainty,” Gayheart told People of the family’s last months together. “It was truly an exhausting and heartbreaking experience, but it also showed us his extraordinary strength every day, and that was really wonderful for the girls and myself to witness.”
While Gayheart tried to remain strong for Dane as they searched for answers about his worsening symptoms ahead of his diagnosis, she admitted nothing could have prepared her for the news that he had ALS.
“I went into my closet and closed the door,” she told the outlet. “I was always telling him, ‘You’re going to be okay, we’re going to figure this out.’ But that day was like a punch in the gut. It took my breath away.”
As Gayheart and Dane struggled to come to terms with the diagnosis themselves, they faced another challenge: explaining the news to their two young daughters.
“They had so many questions, it still felt like it wasn’t real,” she said. “And their father let them know that he wanted to try to spend as much time as possible with them.”
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Dane began seeing symptoms of ALS in early 2024.
“I’m eating sushi with my kids, and suddenly I can’t work the chopsticks with my right hand,” he wrote in his memoir, according to People. “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.”
The emotional impact of Dane’s diagnosis was something the actor also addressed in his own words.
“[Rebecca and I] were married for 14 years, grew apart, filed for divorce, but never got around to signing the papers. We’ve since stayed close, co-parenting, going on vacations as a family, spending time together, and now we talk every day,” Dane wrote. “I say to Rebecca on the phone, ‘It’s what we feared.’”
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“I don’t remember a single word I said after that,” he recalled. “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.’”
Gayheart and Dane married in Las Vegas on Oct. 29, 2004, and welcomed two daughters, Billie, born in March 2010, and Georgia, born in December 2011. The two shared a love story that lasted more than two decades, despite years of separation.
After his death, Gayheart revealed the moments she misses the most now that Dane is gone.
“After the kids downloaded me on their day, I’d call him and be like, ‘Oh my God, there’s a boy that likes Georgia.’ Or when Billie got her driver’s license, I wanted to call him so badly because that was something he was really excited about,” she told People.
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If she could talk to him now, Gayheart said she would want Dane to know how much his strength meant to their family and how deeply he was loved.
“I’d say that I’m proud of him, that we all love him so much, and I hope he really felt that,” the “Urban Legend” star said.
As she and their daughters navigate life without Dane, Gayheart said she’s determined to honor his legacy by protecting their girls and ensuring their father’s memory remains a constant presence in their lives.
“I’m going to look after these girls and protect them with everything in my body and soul. And we’re not going to let people forget him.”