Overview
- In a pre-taped message played at the Jan. 24 ALS Network Champions for Cures & Care Gala, Ellen Pompeo said she texted Dane after learning of his diagnosis and that her phone rang 30 seconds later.
- Patrick Dempsey said he had been texting with Dane and that efforts to include him on his new Fox series, Memory of a Killer, proved virtually impossible due to the progression of Dane’s disease.
- Dane received the ALS Network’s Advocate of the Year award via a prerecorded message, with Broadway actor Aaron Lazar accepting on his behalf.
- Dane has continued public advocacy, telling an I AM ALS panel in December that he feels it is imperative to share his journey to raise awareness and improve the landscape for patients.
- His wife, Rebecca Gayheart, wrote that he now has 24/7 nursing care after successfully appealing insurance denials for full-time coverage.