Rebecca Gayheart recounts Eric Dane's final week and family moments in hospital

Rebecca Gayheart spoke with NBC special correspondent Maria Shriver on "TODAY" about the last week of her husband Eric Dane, who died at 53 in February after an ALS diagnosis. Gayheart said the family initially treated the hospital visit as another routine appointment, but soon recognized its seriousness. > "I said, ‘Listen, I’ll be back. I have a dinner. I’m going to this event.’ I had no idea that was it, that that week was going to be our last week," she recalled.

She explained that the shift became clear around the third day, when doctors' tone changed and Dane, though limited verbally, remained aware of his condition. Gayheart noted that friends who are doctors helped her manage the emotional strain and decision fatigue.

To make the hospital environment more comfortable, Gayheart and their daughters, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14, held a family sleepover in Dane's room, using battery-operated candles and playing his favorite music. She said the experience was an effort to bring normalcy to a difficult situation.

Gayheart also discussed Dane's posthumous memoir, "My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments," and reflected on his decision to go public with his ALS diagnosis. She described how the illness prompted Dane to value each day more intensely and how the family is coping after his death.