It was very emotional

His family confirmed in a statement that the star of The Grey’s Anatomy died after his diagnosis, as they paid tribute to him as “passionate advocate for awareness and research” into the degenerative disease.

The actor would be “deeply missed” and “lovingly remembered always”, the family added, saying he had been “determined to make a difference for others facing the same fight”.

Dane spoke to Time100 about his work raising awareness of ALS including his work to raise funds.
He also spoke about the disease during his appearance on the NBC show Brilliant Minds, an interview that was published last week, just days before his passing.

“I'm trying to save my life, and if my actions can move the needle forward for myself and countless others, I'm satisfied”, he said.

And last year, when speaking about his efforts to raise money and awareness for the disease, he said: “It's imperative that I share my journey with as many people as I can because I don't feel like my life is about me anymore.”

“I have no reason to be in a good spirit at any time, on any given day, I don't think anybody would blame me if I went upstairs in my bedroom, crawled under the sheets, and spent the next two weeks crying”, he added.

"And I was a little bit pleasantly surprised when I realised that I wasn't built like that, because I thought for sure that was gonna be me”.

What is ALS?

Also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS is a degenerative disease which has no cure.

It weakens a person’s muscles until they can no longer move independently, and eventually a person can no longer eat or breathe without assistance.

A person diagnosed with the disease typically lives between two and five years after their diagnosis, and it is a terminal condition.

Dane had revealed his diagnosis in April last year.

In January of this year, he had been scheduled to appear at an event where he would have been presented with an accolade celebrating his work helping research into ALS.

He had not been able to attend as he said he was stopped by “the physical realities of ALS”.