Eric Dane recalled harrowing moment he told estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart of ALS diagnosis which would take his life at 53

Eric Dane recalled the moment he told estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart of his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis in his posthumous memoir.

Dane died on February 19 at age 53, less than one year after he publicly shared his diagnosis in April 2025.

He detailed calling Gayheart after his revelatory doctor appointment and telling her, 'It’s what we feared,' according to an excerpt from his upcoming book, My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, shared by People.

The Grey's Anatomy star wrote: 'I don’t remember a single word I said after that,' and added that Gayheart was 'wailing on the other end of the phone.'

'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,"' the author shared.

The couple married in October 2004, separated in September 2017, and shockingly called off their divorce in March 2025 – one month before Dane publicly announced his ALS diagnosis. 

They shared daughters Georgia, 14, and Billie, 16.

Dane said he turned his focus to being strong for the girls, declaring: '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. I am going to FIGHT.

'This has become my purpose. My reason. This is now my job.'

Elsewhere in the forthcoming literary effort, the late actor discussed the demise of his marriage to Gayheart – which he said was due in part to his substance abuse struggles.

'My work hours, my addiction complications, the times I’m away, the times I’m here but not here,' he listed as reasons for the fallout.

He said they 'all weigh on Rebecca, smother her, disappoint her, infuriate her. I get it, I see it, I don’t fight it.'

However, he noted that, 'We’ve since stayed close, co-parenting, going on vacations as a family, spending time together and now we talk every day.'

Gayheart wrote in a December 2025 essay published by The Cut that her love for Dane was no longer romantic, but 'familial.'

Before his death, Dane spoke highly of his wife in his touching Netflix special, Famous Last Words: Eric Dane.

Dane recorded the two-part program, which was executive produced in part by Brad Falchuk, in secret. 

In the final interview, he declared about Gayheart: 'I will have never, by the time anyone sees this, fallen in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca.'

He also said about his wife: 'I think Rebecca was more willing to show up and do her part than I was. 

'I don’t have that gene that just makes you wanna keep going regardless of what happens. I’m like, "If there’s a hole in the boat, don’t try to patch the hole." Scuttle the damn thing and find a new one.'

And he insisted that he and his estranged wife were 'still really best friends.'

'We still love each other deeply. I just think we don’t wanna live with each other. But there’s a lot of love there,' he emphasized.

In her essay last year, Gayheart said: 'We had a really lovely marriage for a long time – we were married for 15 years – we created two beautiful girls.

'But also, lots of s**t went crazy in our relationship, and it wasn't good. We separated, but we never got a divorce; we were about to and then we didn't. We haven't lived in the same home for eight years; he's dated other people, I've dated someone.'

'It's a very complicated relationship, one that's confusing for people,' she acknowledged.