Better Call Saul actor Russell Andrews has announced he is battling ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
What is ALS?
The Mayo Clinic notes that ALS is “a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS causes loss of muscle control. The disease gets worse over time.”
What did Russell Andrews say about his diagnosis?
“I am a person living with ALS,” he shared on CNN’s The Story Is with Elex Michaelson over the weekend. “I was diagnosed in the late fall of last year.”
The 64-year-old actor was joined on the program by his fiancee, actress Erica Tazel.
He continued, “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.”
About possible symptoms, he shared that he thought he possibly had a stroke during the pandemic, and then mentioned he had some twitching that he attributed to pinched nerves in his neck. He shared: “It was a stressful time. We didn’t work for three years, about, and then we had the back-to-back strikes and so a lot was going on.”
Eventually, the Straight Outta Compton actor said, “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.”
“The way he walked, there was just the subtle little things like that and I had questions. I was like, ‘Something is definitely wrong,’” Erica added.
They eventually consulted his doctor, who sent him to a neurologist.
“I was uncharacteristically calm and in a way, it was an answer to a lot of questions that we had,” he said about receiving the diagnosis.
Is there a cure for ALS?
There is no cure for ALS and while some patients can live for decades, most people usually live for three to five years after their diagnosis.
Where to donate to help fund research for ALS
You can learn more and donate at ALS.com.
See which other celebrities have battled the disease.
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