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Rebecca Gayheart has spoken about the final days of her estranged husband, actor Eric Dane, recalling how their family struggled to understand that his last hospital visit would be his final one.
In an interview with NBC's Maria Shriver on Tuesday, November 3, Gayheart discussed Dane's final days and the release of his posthumous memoir, My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments.
Dane, best known for his roles in Grey's Anatomy and Euphoria, died on February 19, 2026, from ALS. He was 53.
The actor had announced his diagnosis in April 2025. However, Gayheart said neither she nor their daughters, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14, expected to lose him so soon.
She explained that Dane had been admitted to hospital several times before and had always returned home after receiving treatment.
"He had gone to the hospital so many times before, and they would patch him up, so to speak, and he would come home," she said. "And he'd be OK. And we'd go back to the normal routine, which did change week by week."
Gayheart remembered leaving him during the first day of his final hospital admission, telling him she would return after attending a dinner and an event. At the time, she had no reason to believe it would be their last week together.
"I had no idea that that was it, that that week was going to be our last week," she said. "And nor did my daughters. It really took a few days for us to understand the gravity of what that last trip to the hospital meant."
The situation became clearer around the third day, when Gayheart noticed a change in the way doctors spoke to the family and the information they were sharing.
Dane also understood that his condition was deteriorating. Although he had difficulty speaking, he continued communicating with Gayheart, their daughters and close friends. Gayheart said she eventually realised he was dying and that he began making decisions about how he wanted his final days to unfold.
"But I remember the moment Eric decided to make some choices, and he did. ... He was in control of the way he was going to leave," she recalled.
During that time, Gayheart and their daughters stayed with him in his hospital room, turning their visits into family sleepovers. They brought battery-operated candles, played his favourite music and tried to make the room as comfortable as possible.
Dane and Gayheart married in 2004 and filed for divorce in 2018. Gayheart later requested that the divorce proceedings be dismissed in March 2025. They continued raising their daughters together.
My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, which Dane began before his death, is now available.
