Eric Dane's Grey's Anatomy love interest reveals how she 'reached out' amid his 'heartbreaking' ALS decline

Kate Walsh, who played Eric Dane's love interest on Grey's Anatomy, has shared her heartache as he suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 

The early seasons of the show were dominated by the tangled love quadrangle of Addison Montgomery (Walsh), Mark Sloan aka 'McSteamy' (Dane), Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd aka 'McDreamy' (Patrick Dempsey).

Decades after the four characters became household names on the hospital drama, Dane revealed last year that he has ALS, which is known in some countries as motor neurone disease and colloquially in America as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The rare, incurable degenerative condition impairs the nervous system over time and causes the muscles to increasingly suffer from paralysis. 

Dane, 53, has sharply declined since his diagnosis, using a wheelchair, losing the use of one of his arms and pulling out of a public appearance just last week citing the 'physical realities' his illness has forced him to face.

Now Walsh, 58, has said that Dane's condition is 'so painful. It’s really sad. I haven’t been in touch with him, but I’ve reached out and sent my love and support and strength. It’s so heartbreaking,' according to People.

Hailing him as 'such a beautiful person and such an incredible man,' she noted that 'I’ve had other friends that have battled with this disease, and it’s just horrific.'

She added that 'my heart goes out to him' and that she has kept 'him, his family, his girls, in my prayers,' as Dane and his estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart amicably co-parent their daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, amid his health downturn.

Walsh's character Addison appears on the show as the estranged wife of the Patrick Dempsey character Derek Shepherd, known to fans as 'McDreamy.'

The marriage collapsed before the events of the show because she had an affair with Dane's character Mark Sloan, an incorrigible lothario known as 'McSteamy,' only to leave Mark in turn and abort his baby upon discovering he was unfaithful to her.

In the early seasons of the series, Addison is attempting to win Derek back, while her ex-husband is in the process of moving on with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo).

Bruised by Derek's love for Meredith, Addison occasionally takes comfort in Mark's arms but sloughs off his attempts to reignite a more serious relationship.

Creator Shonda Rhimes eventually spun off Addison's storyline into the series Private Practice, which ran from 2007 to 2013 and focused on her new life in Los Angeles away from the Seattle setting of Grey's Anatomy.

Walsh's remarks on Dane's health struggles come shortly after Dempsey revealed he had been in contact with his former co-star as he suffers from ALS. 

'It's very hard for him, but I do try to stay in touch and see how he's doing,' Dempsey, 60, explained in a new interview with Parade.

Dempsey's outreach extended to trying to get Dane a part on his new hit man drama Memory of a Killer, which premiered on USA last weekend.

'Unfortunately, the progression of his disease made it virtually impossible,' Dempsey said, though he added he was 'happy to see that' Dane was able to make it to Toronto to film a part on the hospital show Brilliant Minds, starring Zachary Quinto.

'I think he's been incredibly courageous in the face of this horrible disease,' Dempsey said warmly of Dane. 'He's such a wonderful human being. He has such a great sense of humor, and he's so intelligent.'

Dane, whose recent work includes playing the father of Jacob Elordi's character on Euphoria, insisted last month that he will keep acting.

'I still have my brain and I still have my speech,' he said on a virtual panel for IAMALS.org. 'I'm not about to concede my purpose for some disease.'