Sandra Bullock's longtime partner dies after secret battle with ALS
Sandra Bullock's longtime partner Bryan Randall has died after battling ALS in private. He was 57.
His family announced his death in a statement provided to PEOPLE Magazine, saying that he "passed away peacefully" on Aug. 5 after a three-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). "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."
ALS is a "rare neurological disease that affects motor neurons—those nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement," according to the National Institutes of Health. Apart from it being a progressive disease, it also "has no cure and there is no effective treatment to reverse its progression."
"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," Randall's relatives said.
His family also asked for "privacy to grieve and to come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye to Bryan."
Randall was a model-turned-photographer. According to PEOPLE, Bullock crossed paths with him when he took photos of her son Louis's birthday in 2015. They went public with their romance in the same year by attending Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux's wedding together.
In a 2021 interview, Bullock openly talked about their love as she shared her thoughts on marriage. "I found the love of my life. We share two beautiful children—three children, [Randall's] older daughter. It's the best thing ever," the actress said, referring to her adopted son Louis and daughter Laila as well as Randall's child named Skylar from a previous relationship.
"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," she 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."
Rest in peace, Bryan Randall.