United Kingdom, Feb. 20 -- Eric Dane was "starting to lose his ability to speak" before his death.

The Grey's Anatomy actor passed away on Thursday (19.02.26), at the age of 53, 10 months after he publicly shared his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and his former co-star in the medical drama, Patrick Dempsey, had seen his pal's quality of life deteriorate "rapidly" in recent months but would rather remember him for the "joy" he brought to work.

Speaking to Chris Evans on Virgin Radio, Patrick said: "I feel really so sad for his children.

"I was corresponding with him, we were texting, so I spoke to him about a week ago and some friends of ours went in to see him and he was really starting to lose his ability to speak....