'Bedridden' Eric Dane 'Deteriorated Rapidly' in Final Days Before Sad Death, 'Grey's Anatomy' Costar Patrick Dempsey Reveals

Patrick Dempsey reflected on his Grey's Anatomy costar and friend Eric Dane's final days following the late actor's sad death at age 53.

Dempsey appeared on Virgin Radio U.K.’s The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Friday, February 20, where he paid tribute to Dane hours after the Euphoria actor's passing on Thursday, February 19.

"I just woke up this morning and it was very sad to read the news. It’s hard to put into words. I feel really so sad for his children," Dempsey expressed of Dane and his estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart's two daughters: Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14.

Shedding light on Dane's final days, Dempsey revealed he had the chance to speak to his pal one last time before things took a drastic turn for the worse.

"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," Dempsey explained of Dane — who died less than one year after announcing his ALS diagnosis.

The Enchanted star continued: "He was bedridden and it was very hard for him to swallow so the quality of his life was deteriorating so rapidly."

Dempsey emotionally recalled what he loved most about Dane while revisiting some of his favorite memories working together on the set of Grey's Anatomy — where the duo played fan-favorite characters nicknamed McDreamy (Dr. Derek Shepherd) and McSteamy (Dr. Mark Sloan).

"He was the funniest man — he was such a joy to work with and I want to just remember him in that spirit because any time he was on set, he brought so much fun to it," Dempsey shared. “He had a great sense of humor. He was easy to work with. We got along instantly."

"First scene was him, you know, in all his glory, coming out of the bathroom with the towel on looking amazing, making you feel completely out of shape and insignificant," Dempsey quipped of Dane's charmingly attractive features.

“We hit it off because it was never really any competition,” he noted. “There was just this wonderful mutual respect, he’s wickedly intelligent and I’m always going to remember those moments of fun that we had together and celebrate the joy that he did bring to people’s lives and the real loss is for us who don’t have them anymore.”

Throughout Dane's battle with ALS, The Last Ship actor made sure to spread awareness about the disorder, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Praising Dane for his efforts, Dempsey stated, "He did an incredible job at bringing awareness to this horrible disease and those remaining days and it just reminds us that we all have to celebrate every day like it’s our last day."

“It’s something that we have to remember and certainly in a world where there is just so much crisis and there is so much tragedy that we really need to be grateful for every moment that we have … spend time with our families, do things that are better, that benefit of other people to be of service to be kind, to be loving," Dempsey concluded.