Eric Dane reveals daughter had to save him from drowning amid ALS battle

Eric Dane 's life is being detailed in a posthumous new memoir.

" My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments ," written by the late actor before his February death at 53 from Lou Gehrig's disease, is set to be released Nov. 3, 2026 (The Open Field / Penguin Publishing Group).

In an excerpt shared by People ahead of the release, Dane recalls the moment his health declined to the point where he couldn't swim. During a vacation in Antigua, his daughter Georgia and her friend have to save him from the water.

After the ordeal, he told ex Rebecca Gayheart over the phone, "I can't swim, Rebecca. I can't swim."

"She explodes into tears and I weep with her," Dane writes of his wife. "We cry together. Finally, the tears slow, become reduced to gasps, and when we're both cried out, Rebecca says, 'I was afraid of this day. I knew it would come. I've been dreading it.'"

The " Grey's Anatomy " star battled Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, for less than two years before his death. While Dane and Gayheart were no longer in a relationship, the pair remained married and close coparents until the "Euphoria" actor died on Feb. 19, 2026.

From 'Grey's Anatomy' to 'Brilliant Minds,' see Eric Dane's career

Eric Dane played Dr. Mark Sloan, aka "McSteamy," on "Grey's Anatomy" for six seasons, but he's not done wooing his audiences yet. In 2025, Dane returned to TV on another medical drama, making his "Brilliant Minds" debut as "Bronx-Gen's favorite silver fox." Dane revealed in April that he’d been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS . See the actor's career in the spotlight from the early 2000's to now, including here as he attends the "Countdown" premiere and afterparty on June 18, 2025, in Los Angeles.

Eric Dane reveals addiction's role in 'Grey's Anatomy' exit in memoir 'My Book of Days'

Elsewhere in the memoir, Dane reveals the reason for his exit on "Grey's." The actor details a painkiller addiction during his time on the ABC medical drama, leading series creator Shonda Rhimes to pull him aside, offering to "take care" of him if he needs time away from the series. Despite entering rehab five times over the course of the show, Dane says other factors contributed to the end of his tenure as "McSteamy."

New 'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff series set in Texas is coming

"Over time, I come out improved. I do my best. I manage my addictions, I stay sober on set," he writes, per People. "But things have changed. Look at me. Physically, I appear healthy. But mentally, I'm on my way out. I love Mark Sloan, but I need to quit him."

By 2012, toward the end of Season 8 of the series, Rhimes told the actor the show would not be bringing him back for Season 9.

"My 'Grey's Anatomy' ending does come, but not because of my addiction, although it's safe to say my addiction didn't help," Dane writes. "The reason comes down to money … Despite Mark Sloan's popularity, I have become too expensive. I have become expendable."

'Grey's Anatomy' doctors who've come and gone, including Eric Dane

Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke, Seasons 1-3): The quiet but intense cardiothoracic surgeon left fiancée Cristina Yang at the altar in the Season 3 finale. Burke went on to win a prestigious award at another hospital and later ran a private research hospital in Switzerland, which he later turned over to Yang when Oh left at the end of Season 10. He then moved to Italy with his wife and two daughters.

Penguin Random House previously confirmed Dane was able to complete "My Book of Days" before his death, which he was working on "right up to the end." It will be published on Nov. 3, in keeping with his wishes for "his daughters and readers to have these words."

"This deeply personal work is a reflection on family, resilience, faith, sobriety, fatherhood, and what it means to live fully in the face of terminal illness," the publisher said in a release. "It is both a meditation on time and a generous offering to readers about how to honor the days that matter most."