Russell Andrews recently revealed that he has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
For those who don’t know, ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. There is no cure for ALS because ALS takes away the ability to breathe, swallow, talk and walk by destroying motor neurons.
On Saturday, May 16, Andrews appeared with his fiancée, actress Erica Tazel The story is with Elex Michaelson on CNNwhere he first shared the devastating news about his progressive disease.
The Straight from Compton star said: “I am someone living with ALS. I was diagnosed in late fall of last year.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrews suffered a stroke, which he now believes was an early but striking sign of ALS.
In addition, he occasionally experienced “twitches” that felt like “pinched nerves” in his neck. “It was a stressful time. We didn’t work for about three years, and then we had the back-to-back strikes and a lot happened,” he joked, referring to the 2023 Hollywood actors’ strike.
The punisher alum recalled, “I couldn’t do the things I normally do. I would drop cups and glasses at night. It felt like things were running up and down my arm at different times and it was the nerves.”
“It took him longer to clean the pool. The way he was walking, there were just subtle little things and I had questions. I thought, ‘There’s definitely something wrong,'” Tazel recalled.
Andrews had himself examined by a neurologist on the recommendation of a GP, and it was then that he discovered that all of these signs were actually subtle symptoms of ALS.
Tazel said of his diagnosis: “I was unusually calm and in a way it was an answer to a lot of questions we had. [There] It was not a sigh of relief, but some understanding of what happened.”
“And I looked at him across the room and I said, ‘At least now we know what it is, and I still want to be your wife,’” said the Carrots actress shared.
It is pertinent to mention that, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, people live for three to five years after being diagnosed with ALS as the symptoms become more severe over time.
