Alex Tisdale 
Eric Dane was star on 'Grey's Anatomy' for many seasons/Photo credit: ABC
Grey’s Anatomy is known to be one of the most important pieces of media on today’s television. When people think of television, they often think of Game of Thrones, Euphoria, Degrassi, and many other types of shows.
Grey’s Anatomy is one of them. As of now, Grey’s Anatomy is one of the longest-running series with 22 seasons, behind other shows such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, and General Hospital.
The show itself has been on air since 2005 and shows no signs of slowing down. During earlier seasons, viewership reached the millions; however, as the long run progressed, viewership slowly began to decrease, while shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, 911, and Bridgerton began to gain more traction.
This was the trend until, unfortunately, one of the former stars of Grey’s Anatomy, Eric Dane, passed away. On February 19, 2026, Eric Dane, who played Mark on Grey’s Anatomy, passed away from a long battle with ALS. Dane was just diagnosed with the disease back in 2025 after noting symptoms of it in 2024, such as weakness in one of his arms.
Right after his diagnosis, he was open about it, explaining the hardships. Unfortunately, after just about a year, he passed away from the disease.
Following his death, fans of Grey’s Anatomy would reminisce about his portrayal of Mark on the show. The character Mark was often called McSteamy by characters and fans. Not only that, Mark was Derek Shepherd’s (played by Patrick Dempsey) on-again, off-again best friend, introduced to the show by sleeping with Shepherd’s ex-wife, Addison (played by Kate Walsh).
Because of this, fans ultimately decided to start re-watching Grey’s Anatomy from season one to the current season, and many are looking at the show’s most notable moments from a more modern perspective.
“I am extremely unwell and will be re-watching all of Grey’s again for the 10th time,” said one TikToker.
“As a Grey’s Anatomy kid the only thing I can think of doing is re-watching Mark Sloan’s memorial episode,” said another TikToker.
What the previous TikToker was referring to was when Mark tragically died in Season 9 Episode, following the plane crash in the Season 8 finale.
“The fact that we have to experience McSteamy‘s death twice in a lifetime,” one commenter said.
Eric Dane, was also widely known for his other roles, such as his most recent role in Euphoria. The filming of season three for the show concluded just last year, wild Dane was battling ALS.
Click here for more stories from the Digital Media Generation.
Demanyé 
Dalila Benmakhlouf 
