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  • Portia and I heard about this story,

  • and immediately I was like--

  • I wanted to meet you both.

  • And just my heart is breaking for you

  • and just wanted to tell you how much I love you.

  • And let's start at the beginning.

  • So where did you all meet?

  • We met in college.

  • So I played soccer and Eric played football,

  • and we kind of knew each other through mutual friends.

  • And one day, we were walking down the street,

  • and I stopped him and gave him a hug.

  • I barely knew him, but I was like, oh, my gosh,

  • and I gave him a hug.

  • Why'd you give him a hug?

  • I don't know.

  • He's just so cute.

  • [LAUGHTER]

  • Well, yeah, I know, but usually that doesn't happen.

  • [LAUGHTER]

  • Yeah.

  • And you were a football player?

  • Yeah.

  • And you played for the Rams?

  • I did.

  • I played for the Rams for one year.

  • And then after that, I always knew

  • I wanted to be a firefighter.

  • So I knew I wasn't going to play football my whole life.

  • I love firefighters.

  • You know that, right?

  • I love firefighters.

  • I just think that firefighters are just amazing heroes

  • to be running towards the danger to protect all of us.

  • So thank you for that.

  • [APPLAUSE]

  • And how long did you all date before you got married?

  • Eight years.

  • Eight years.

  • OK, so you're planning the wedding,

  • and you start feeling some symptoms.

  • What was happening?

  • Yeah, I started feeling my left hand start slowing down.

  • It was getting kind of weak, and I was dropping the tools.

  • And when I'd workout, like holding a dumbbell

  • or something, it would slip from my hand, or--

  • I didn't really think much of it.

  • I just thought maybe it was an old football

  • injury or something.

  • Just kind of kept putting it off.

  • And we had our wedding that we were playing for,

  • so I didn't want to stress anyone out.

  • So then you get married.

  • And then after you got married, it just intensified?

  • Yeah, so it just kind of slowly progressed, slowly

  • kept getting worse.

  • My brothers, my dad, Amanda, they

  • noticed my speech was starting to slow down too.

  • I was slurring words and just getting

  • really tired and fatigued.

  • And I started googling--

  • of course, we go on Google and try to see what we have.

  • And I just kept checking all these boxes.

  • I'm like, man, this is crazy.

  • ALS keeps popping up, and there's just no way.

  • I'm in the best shape of my life, about to get married,

  • and it's like everything's--

  • I feel like I'm on top of the world.

  • And it just kept coming.

  • And I'm like, man, this is crazy.

  • And I was in denial for sure.

  • And after the honeymoon--

  • or actually, during the honeymoon,

  • I was getting this crazy twitching,

  • and they're getting worse and worse.

  • So I didn't really say anything to Amanda until we got home.

  • [VOICE BREAKING]

  • And he said, we need to go to the doctor.

  • And yeah, so we went and--

  • [BOTH CRYING]

  • --it still doesn't feel real when you're there

  • and they're telling you, this is what you have.

  • And he's 29, healthy, we just got married.

  • So yeah, it was very hard.

  • It doesn't seem fair or real or anything like this.

  • It's just-- I don't even have words.

  • I'm just so sorry that to just be getting married and starting

  • out, wanting to have a family.

  • So I want to show my support because you have #AXE ALS.

  • And I wanted to take a really cool picture with #AXE ALS,

  • so I called your fire station.

  • So they're here.

  • Come on out.

  • [MUSIC - U2, "BEAUTIFUL DAY"]

  • (SINGING) It's a beautiful day.

  • [CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

  • (SINGING) You know you can feel it.

  • It's a beautiful day.

  • But you've got no destination.

  • You're in the mud, in the maze of her imagination.

  • You're lovin' this town, even if that doesn't ring true.

  • You've been all over.

  • We'll be right back.

  • We're with back with Amanda and Eric Stevens

  • and the firefighters from Fire Station 21.

  • And I know these guys have something that they

  • want to say, first of all.

  • You all need to know that since I first met Eric

  • a number of years ago, he has always been the strongest

  • guy in the room, hands down.

  • And you have been hit by one of the biggest blows

  • that life can throw at you.

  • And the way that you have chosen to respond, with your strength,

  • your courage, your fight, is proving just once again

  • that you are remaining the strongest guy in the room.

  • [APPLAUSE]

  • We want you to know you are not alone in this.

  • Even though you're not showing up

  • to the firehouse for work shifts,

  • you are still a key, key part of this crew.

  • And we will always be your crew.

  • And we are committed to walking with you

  • every step of this journey.

  • [CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

  • I love you, dude.

  • I love you.

  • I love you guys.

  • [SIGHS] Well, I feel the same way.

  • I just said during the break, I want

  • to be there to help you in any way I can as well.

  • And ALS is very expensive.

  • The bills are piling up--

  • I know that.

  • And you were saving to buy a home and start a family,

  • and all this is going to the medical bills.

  • So I wanted to help, and the Unlimited Cash Back Account

  • from Green Dot Bank is all about putting cash back

  • in your pocket to help you save.

  • So they're going to get you started with $50,000.

  • [CHEERS, APPLAUSE]

  • Thank you very much.

  • (CRYING) Thank you so much.

  • My pleasure.

  • You can go to our website to find out how you can help.

  • And let's all post these #AXE ALS.

  • Let's get that started.

  • I want to thank Matt Damon.

  • I'll see you tomorrow.

  • Be kind to one another.

  • Bye.

  • Hi, I'm Andy.

  • Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel

  • so you can see more awesome videos,

  • like videos of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things,

  • like ball peen hammer, and also some videos of Ellen

  • and other celebrities, if you're into that sort of thing.

  • Ah!

  • [SCREAMS] [BLEEP] God!

  • [BLEEP]

Portia and I heard about this story,

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