Sandra Bullock opened up about how her late partner Bryan Randall's ALS diagnosis had a profound effect on her two children, Louis and Laila, whom she adopted in 2010 and 2015, respectively.
The 62-year-old spoke on the SmartLess podcast about Bryan's slow and agonizing health battle after he was diagnosed with ALS during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with the actress sharing how she helped her kids navigate his illness.
Becoming aware
© Alamy"Oh, [they were] completely aware. Absolutely aware, because eventually, once there is a situation where you're bedridden, we all have to go there," she said on the podcast. "It was in my house, and I did my best to set up whatever I could, and I am lucky in that I had the means to pay for it."
"They could see. They have eyes. And, they are very, very astute kids," she continued. "Very astute because they not only see the physical change, [but] there's a behavior that changes in all of us."
© InstagramALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive nervous system disease that destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness, speech issues, breathing problems and behavioral changes. The average life expectancy after diagnosis in two to five years.
Stepping back amid Bryan's illness
"Louis handled it very differently than Laila," Sandra recalled. "About two years before Bryan passed, he saw it was a dynamic that wasn't healthy for him to be around. So, he's very evolved. He's like, 'You know what? I'm here for you.'"
The Miss Congeniality star added that she didn't want Louis to feel like he had to be the man of the house during Bryan's illness.
"I want him to be a kid during a pandemic when everything is already [expletive] anyway, and people are suffering everywhere. So me asking for help, I felt the guilt because everyone else was already suffering. But he chose to just be there, and support and help me on the things that were easy for me."
As Bryan's illness progressed, Louis took a step back from seeing him, which his mother supported. Her daughter stayed by Bryan's side until "about six months" before his death, after which she stepped back like her older brother.
"She says, 'Can you please say no when they call me over to go visit?' And I said, 'Absolutely.' And I said, 'But, if you do wanna go visit, I will come with you, and I will be right there. And if you tap out, I am right there,'" Sandra recalled.
Saying goodbye
© InstagramBryan passed away on August 5, 2023, eight years after his first meeting with Sandra when she hired him to be the photographer at Louis' fifth birthday party.
He was 57 when he passed, and had kept his illness under wraps for three years.
© Getty"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," his family shared in a statement at the time.
"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."
