Eric Dane has Olympic alpine skier Lindsey Vonn’s support as he advocates for patients like himself who are living with ALS.
“Thank you for raising awareness,” Vonn, 40, wrote under a video the actor shared on Monday, September 15, announcing his partnership with I Am ALS. “You are showing great strength. My mother would thank you. 🙏🏻.”
Vonn’s mother was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2021 and died one year later. The Olympic gold medalist has become an advocate for ALS research and awareness over the past three years.
Dane, 52, first revealed his diagnosis in April. He has been open about the disease’s progression in the months since, even revealing in June that he has lost function in his right side.
In Dane’s Instagram video on Monday, he explained the partnership from a seated position with his speech seeming to be impacted as well.
“For over a century, ALS has been incurable, and we’re done accepting the status quo,” he said. “We need the fastest path to a cure. And that’s why I partnered with I Am ALS on the push for progress. Our goal: A billion dollars over the next three years.”
“Together, we will renew the landmark law ACT for ALS, give promising treatments to thousands of patients like me, and finally, finally push toward ending this disease,” he continued. “There’s so much more to learn, more to do and we have to do it now.”
Dane has leaned on his family as he navigates life post-diagnosis. That includes his estranged wife, Rebecca Gayheart, and daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13.
“I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,” he said in an April statement to People. “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.”
He added in a June appearance on Good Morning America that he is continuing to fight “as much as I can.”
“There’s so much about it that’s out of my control,” he said. “I’m angry because, you know, my father was taken from me when I was young and now there’s a very good chance I’m going to be taken from my girls while they’re very young. 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.”
