Eric Dane's friends are honoring his legacy, and defending the fundraising efforts created in his honor.
The beloved Grey's Anatomy actor passed away on Thursday, February 19, on the 20th anniversary of his first episode as Dr. Mark Sloan, almost one year after first announcing he had been diagnosed with ALS.
In the wake of his passing, a GoFundMe was launched by some of his friends to support the Euphoria alum's wife Rebecca Gayheart and their two daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14, as a close friend says "he sadly couldn't leave his family with the resources he had hoped."
Eric's friend Mike McGuinness took to Instagram following his passing and reflected on their 20 years of friendship, also defending the GoFundMe, which has raised $288,654 as of this writing, and features donations from the likes of Euphoria director Sam Levinson, who donated $27,000, Hailey Bieber, who donated $20,000, and Brad Falchuk, who donated $10,000.
"Covid and ALS did a number on his work life and he sadly couldn't leave his family with the resources he had hoped," he wrote.
Further reflecting on Eric's passing, he said: "I'm the positive spin guy and can come up with something hopeful in most any situation," though noted: "This one broke me. I had nothing to say, it's about as hopeless an affliction one could get."
© FilmMagic"I truly don't know if I could muster grace or dignity in that spot. Eric did. Candidly, I didn't know he had it in him. Since I had very little perspective to contribute on what was clearly a death sentence, the best I could come up with was to ask him if he had anything on his bucket list. He did," Mike continued.
He went on to share how he and Eric, after he was diagnosed, got to enjoy a trip to Tokyo together, during which Eric enjoy an Oasis concert and "not feel like wheelchair guy," and the two relished in long meals "where I got to hear about his life and updated mindset in a unique way."
© WireImageThe tribute continued: "Eric said he couldn't fix the past and the future was too hard to think about, so he was forced to be in the moment. On top of that, his hands didn't work, so he couldn't be on a phone. So in the moment he was."
© Janell Shirtcliff"I will forever be grateful we went on that trip and for what it taught me, both from Eric's perspective and getting to watch true service and selflessness, as Jeff did 99% of the heavy lifting on a trip with his friend who required around the clock care," Mike added.
"We laughed hard, we cried hard, and we saw very little of Tokyo, but I learned more about my buddy in that week than the other 1000 times we hung out combined," he concluded.
