Eric Dane Reveals the Shocking Moment His Daughter Became His Lifeline After ALS Left Him Helpless in Water

Eric Dane is sharing a heartbreaking moment amid his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis.

On Monday, June 16, the Euphoria actor, 52, was interviewed by Diane Sawyer for Good Morning America and opened up about his ALS diagnosis. Dane, who was once a competitive swimmer and a water polo star, shared that he had a scary moment recently when he was in the water with one of his daughters.

“When I jumped in the ocean that day and realized I couldn’t swim [or] generate enough power to get myself back to the boat, I thought, ‘Oh, God,’ ” Dane recalls. “And then I realized in that moment I’m not safe in the water anymore.”

In a voice-over, Sawyer explains that his daughter had to race to her dad’s rescue. “She dragged me back in the boat,” Dane says.

“What did you say to each other?” Sawyer asks.

“I was like breaking down in tears, so I made sure she got back in the water with her friend and continued on with the snorkeling with the guide,” the dad of two says. “But I was just heartbroken.”

Dane shares his daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, with wife Rebecca Gayheart.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare degenerative disease that causes progressive paralysis of the muscles. Patients first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, often followed by slurred speech. According to the Mayo Clinic, because the disease affects the nerve cells in the brain and spine that control muscle movement, patients slowly lose their ability to speak, eat, walk, and breathe independently.

There’s no cure for ALS, and people usually live three to five years after diagnosis, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. However, some patients can live decades.

Dane first revealed his ALS diagnosis exclusively with PEOPLE in April. “I have been diagnosed with ALS,” he shared at the time. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”

“I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time,” he told PEOPLE.

Although Gayheart filed for a divorce from Dane in 2018, the actress filed to have the divorce petition dismissed in March with no prejudice, per documents obtained by PEOPLE. Just a day before Dane’s diagnosis became public, Gayheart said that he and her husband were the “best of friends.”

“We are best of friends. We are really close,” the 90210 alum told E! News. “We are great coparents. I think it’s important to not look at a relationship that ends as a failure.”

“It’s just a season. It wasn’t a failure. It was a huge success,” Gayheart said of their relationship. “We were married for, I mean, we are still married, but together for 15 years, and we had two beautiful kids so I think that’s a successful relationship, and that’s how we look at it.”