Sandra Bullock‘s sister has shared rare insight into the actress’ final moments with her partner of eight years, Bryan Randall, who died aged 57 earlier this week.
Gesine Bullock-Prado shared a heartfelt to Randall on her verified Instagram page, wherein which she revealed Bullock, 59, was by his side when he died on Sunday (Monday in Australia) following a private three-year battle with ALS – more commonly known as motor neurone disease in Australia.
“I’m convinced that Bry has found the best fishing spot in heaven and is already casting his lure into rushing rivers teaming with salmon,” Bullock-Prado’s message, shared alongside a snap of a smiling Randall, began.
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“ALS is a cruel disease but there is some comfort in knowing he had the best of caretakers in my amazing sister and the band of nurses she assembled who helped her look after him in their home,” she continued. “Rest in peace, Bryan.”
Bullock-Prado also reiterated the family’s wish for donations to be made to the ALS Association and Massachusetts General Hospital instead of flowers.
Randall’s family confirmed to multiple outlets one day after his death (Tuesday in Australia) that he had died after secretly being diagnosed with ALS in 2020.
“It is with great sadness that we share that on [August 5], Bryan Randall passed away peacefully after a three-year battle with ALS,” the family’s statement began.
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ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a rare neurological disease that affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain, causing loss of muscle control.
According to the Mayo Clinic, it gets worse over time, and while it can be slowed by medicine and therapy, there is no cure. The cause of the disease is unknown.
“Bryan chose early to keep his journey with ALS private and those of us who cared for him did our best to honour his request,” the statement continued.
“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 statement concluded with a request for privacy for “his loving family” to grieve and “come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye” to Randall.
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Bullock, who has yet to publicly comment on the tragedy, first met Randall, a former model who became a photographer, when he was hired to photograph her son Louis’ birthday party in January 2015.
Almost seven years later, the notoriously private Bullock publicly said he was the “love of [her] life”.
“I found the love of my life. We share two beautiful children – three children, [Randall’s] older daughter. It’s the best thing ever,” Bullock, who is the mother of 13-year-old Louis and 10-year-old daughter Laila, said on Red Table Talk when addressing marriage in December 2021.
“I don’t wanna say do it like I do it, but I don’t need a paper to be a devoted partner and devoted mother,” Bullock said at the time.
“I don’t need to be told to be ever present in the hardest of times. I don’t need to be told to weather a storm with a good man,” she continued.
Bullock also said during the interview that Randall is a great “example” to her children.
“He’s the example that I would want my children to have,” she said. “I have a partner who’s very Christian and there are two different ways of looking at things. 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.”
“I’m stubborn but sometimes I need to sit back and listen and go, ‘You’re saying it differently but we mean exactly the same thing,'” Bullock continued. “It’s hard to co-parent because I just want to do it myself.”
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