Actor Russell Andrews revealed his ALS diagnosis as his fiancée, Erica Tazel, vowed to take care of him.
Andrews, 64, revealed his terminal illness in a May 16 interview on CNN’s “The Story Is with Elex Michaelson” on Saturday.
“I am a person living with ALS,” Andrews told Michaelson. “I was diagnosed in the late fall of last year, and it’s been humbling but there’s… Elex, there’s also something in the fact that I walked into a family of very caring people I did not know a year ago — the cliché family, but they have not let us miss a step in terms of care, the attention, the awareness and the ability to get me here today.”
Andrew said his symptoms began during the COVID pandemic and he initially believed he’d suffered a stroke.
“It was a stressful time. We didn’t work for three years… and then we had the back-to-back strikes and so a lot was going on.” Andrews said he experienced “twitches,” that he thought were “pinched nerves in my neck.”
The muscle twitching spread to his arms and his condition worsened. “I was not able to do things that I normally do. I was dropping cups and glasses at night. It felt like things were running up and down my arm at different times and it was the nerves.”
He wasn’t able to complete his usual chores around the house.
“It took him longer to clean the pool,” Tazel said. “The way he walked, there was just the subtle little things like that and I had questions. I was like, ‘Something is definitely wrong.'”
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerves and the brain. It’s also called Lou Gehrig’s disease after the famed Major League Baseball star Lou Gherig died from the disease in 1941 at age 37.
Andrews is best known for his acting roles in “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Better Call Saul.” He also starred in “Insecure”, “Straight Outta Compton”, “NCIS: New Orleans” and “Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland.”
“I still want to be your wife.”
Actor Russell Andrews revealed his ALS diagnosis alongside fiancée Erica Tazel, who says she’s standing beside him through the fight. Their story is resonating with many during ALS Awareness Month.
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