“Some kind of weird nerve thing, I think. I shake it off,” he wrote in his posthumous memoir.
Posted on Oct 19, 2026 UTC
Eric Dane opened up about an ALS symptom he initially dismissed in an excerpt of his posthumous memoir, published over the weekend.
Dane died earlier this year at age 53. His book, Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, will hit shelves in November.
In the candid memoir, Dane talks about everything from his addiction and divorce to the symptoms that led to him figuring out he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called “ALS” or “Lou Gehrig’s disease.”
“I’m eating sushi with my kids and suddenly I can’t work the chopsticks with my right hand,” Dane says in an excerpt published exclusively in People on Sunday. “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,” he writes. “Three weeks later, it happens again, only worse. I can’t grip the chopsticks at all.”
The Grey’s Anatomy star previously spoke to Diane Sawyer about how the symptoms led to his eventual diagnosis.
“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, who said, ‘This is way above my pay grade,’” Dane shared in the 2025 interview.
Dane is survived by his wife, actor Rebecca Gayheart, and their teenage daughters, Billie Beatrice and Georgia Geraldine.
“He spent his final days surrounded by dear friends, his devoted wife, and his two beautiful daughters, Billie and Georgia, who were the center of his world,” his family said in a statement announcing the death of the Euphoria actor.
“Throughout his journey with ALS, Eric became a passionate advocate for awareness and research, determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight,” they said. “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.”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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