LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Sandra Bullock is finding hope in the support and donations received for ALS research since the death of her partner Bryan Randall.
Randall, a photographer who met Bullock in 2015, died on August 5 after a three-year battle with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
ALS Association is receiving extra donations and monthly visitors after Bryan Randall's death
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, has no cure and causes muscle weakness, paralysis, and eventually ends in respiratory failure.
Randall’s family said in a statement to People that they “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.”
In lieu of flowers, Randall’s family asked for donations to be made to the ALS Association and the Massachusetts General Hospital.
A spokesperson for the ALS Association told the publication they “saw an additional $50,000 raised from donors in honour of Bryan and an increase of over 100,000 new visitors to our website.”
“We are grateful for everyone who has donated and our hearts are with Sandra and Bryan’s family,” the spokesperson adds.
“We still need support to make ALS livable for everyone, everywhere, until we can cure it.”
How is Sandra Bullock staying positive despite the heartbreaking loss?
A source tells People that Bullock, 59, has “seen the incredible outpouring of support toward ALS research since Bryan’s passing.”
“It was very important to her that when she and his family made the initial statement of Bryan’s passing, those who were on this journey with her and Bryan, from the beginning, were recognized — with the Healey Center at Mass General leading the way,” says the source.
“She is so grateful to all those who have donated and is happy that out of something so heartbreaking came something so positive for others,” the source adds.
Sandra Bullock and Bryan Randall's love life
Bullock, a mother-of-two adopted children, Louis, 11, and Laila, nine. She called Randall the “love of my life” and praised him as a great “example” to her children in a previous interview on Red Table Talk.
“He’s the example that I would want my children to have. I have a partner who’s very Christian and there are two different ways of looking at things," she said.
"I don’t always agree with him and he doesn’t always agree with me. But he is an example even when I don’t agree with him,” she continued.
