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Sandra Bullock’s longtime partner Bryan Randall has died aged 57, it has been confirmed.
The photographer is said to have privately battled with ALS for the past three years.
Sandra first met Bryan – a model-turned-photographer – in 2015, after he photographed her son Louis’s birthday.
On their last public sighting together, in July, 2020, the former model was pictured gazing adoringly at his love as they arrived to an intimate gathering in studio city with her two children.
‘It is with great sadness that we share that on Aug. 5, Bryan Randall passed away peacefully after a three-year battle with ALS,’ his family shared to PEOPLE.
‘Bryan chose early to keep his journey with ALS private and those of us who cared for him did our best to honor his request.’
Last family outing: Sandra Bullock and her longtime partner Bryan Randall were last seen out together in Studio City in July, 2020 along with her two adopted children Louis, 13, and Laila, 11. Randall died on August 5 following a private three-year battle with ALS
Silently suffering: The photographer is said to have privately battled with ALS for the past three years (seen in 2017)
“We are immensely grateful to the tireless doctors who navigated the landscape of this illness with us and to the astounding nurses who became our roommates, often sacrificing their own families to be with ours,” the family statement continued.
‘At this time we ask for privacy to grieve and to come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye to Bryan.’
The statement was signed off by ‘His Loving Family.’
Randall’s family have asked for donations to the ALS Association and the Massachusetts General Hospital in lieu of flowers, according to People. .
There is no cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – ALS – and the disease is fatal, but it progresses at different speeds in patients.
People with ALS are expected to live two to five years after the symptoms first manifest, although 10 percent of sufferers live at least 10 years. It is also known in some countries as motor-neurone disease.
The disease is also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease after the US baseball player when he was diagnosed in 1939 at just 36 years old.
The couple do not have any children together, but Bullock has two adopted children — son Louis, 13, and daughter Laila, 11 — and Bryan has an adult daughter named Skylar from a previous relationship.
Sandra and Bryan began dating several months after first meeting, and even attended Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux’s wedding that same year, according to People.
The actress was in the process of adopting her second child when things got serious with Bryan.
The couple pictured at the world premiere of Oceans 8
The couple seen at the London premiere of Oceans 8 in 2018
Though Sandra and Bryan have kept their romance very private, the silver screen star gushed about her beau in 2021 on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk, where she also discussed her divorce from ex-husband Jesse James in 2010.
During the appearance Bullock said: ‘I am someone who went through the divorce process.’
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‘I found the love of my life,’ she continued. ‘We share two beautiful children — three children, his older daughter. It’s the best thing ever.’
Sandra met Bryan when she hired him as a photographer to take pictures at her son’s birthday, and described him as a ‘saint’ after she informed him she was adopting a second child when they ‘hadn’t been together that long.’
Bullock and her partner pictured in 2018
Blended family: Bullock pictured with her children Louis and Laila and late partner in 2018
Inseparable: The couple do not have any children together, but Bullock has two adopted children — son Louis, 13, and daughter Laila, 11 — and Bryan has an adult daughter named Skylar from a previous relationship (seen in 2018)
‘I said, “Remember that NDA you signed when you photographed my son?” I said, “You know, that still holds.” He said “Why?” I said, “I’m bringing a child home when I come back from Toronto,'” Sandra explained.
‘He was so happy, but he was scared. I’m a bulldozer. My life was already on the track and here’s this beautiful human being who doesn’t want anything to do with my life, but the right human being to be there.’
She also described her partner as being ‘very Christian’ and a great example to the children. ‘I don’t always agree with him and he doesn’t always agree with me,’ she said, adding: ‘But if they can take away from that and that is where they feel drawn to, he’s the exact right parent to be in this position.’
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Details of fatal disease there is no cure for
What is it?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurogenerative disorder which impacts the nerve cells in the spinal cord and the brain, according to the Mayo Clinic. It gets progressively worse and causes significant muscle control loss in people who have it.
Treatment
There is no cure for ALS and the disease is fatal, but it progresses at different speeds in patients.
Symptoms
The first signs of ALS are twitching of the muscles, weaknesses of the limbs and problems with swallowing and speaking. Progressively, it deteriorates muscle control and impacts an individual’s ability to breathe, move, speak and eat.
ALS symptoms correspond with where nerve cells deteriorate in each person, and could lead to issues walking, tripping, and weakness of the knees, ankles and hands.
It can also lead to problems with muscle cramps and twitching in areas including one’s tongue, arms and shoulders. People with ALS have experienced untimely spells of laughter, tears and yawns, as well as changes to one’s thinking process or behavior, according to the clinic.
Risk factors
Among the risk factors researchers have established for ALS include genetics, as about 10 percent of people diagnosed with it were passed down a gene from a relative, which is called hereditary ALS, according to the clinic. Kids of people who have hereditary ALS have a 50 percent chance of having the gene.
Age is also a factor as the risk of getting the disease trends up toward the age of 75, with the most common range of people who have it between 60 and 85. In terms of gender, men are diagnosed with a higher rate of ALS prior to the age of 65, according to the clinic.
Other factors that have been linked to ALS include smoking and exposure to toxic substances. The clinic reported that military personnel have been diagnosed with ALS at a higher rate.
Causes
There is no known cause of ALS, according to the Mayo Clinic, and heredity plays a factor in a small number of cases.
Lou Gehrig was one of baseball’s preeminent stars while playing for the Yankees between 1923 and 1939. Known as ‘The Iron Horse,’ he played in 2,130 consecutive games before ALS forced him to retire. The record was broken by Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995
Lou Gehrig’s Disease
As well as being known as ALS, it is frequently referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Lou Gehrig was a stalwart first baseman for the New York Yankees between 1923 and 1939. He was famous for his strength and durability, earning the nickname ‘The Iron Horse’ with a record-setting streak of 2,130 consecutive games.
In a July 4, 1939 speech on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, the ballplayer famously said, ‘For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.’
His popularity and fame transcended the sport of baseball. He died two years after his diagnosis on June 2, 1941.
