Wrestling Star Rebel Reveals Terminal Diagnosis

Wrestler Tanea Brooks, who fought under the ring name Rebel, revealed this week that she has received a terminal diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

ALS, which is , is a rare and incurable degenerative condition that impairs the nervous system over time and causes the muscles to increasingly suffer from paralysis. 

About half of ALS patients have a life expectancy of three years after the initial onset of symptoms, though some can survive for decades.

Prior to her own diagnosis, Brooks spent years suffering health problems that doctors first attributed to cryptococcal and then realized was a rare lung .

In November 2025 she also shared that she had 'picked up a little disorder called functional neurological disorder' that had left her reliant on a walker. 

This Friday she announced that doctors at the Mayo Clinic had informed her she has 'terminal ALS,' adding that she did not know how long she had left to live. 

She noted in an Instagram video that 'it’s been a two-year medical journey trying to find out what is wrong, and finally, our prayers have been answered.'

Brooks added: 'The thing is, sometimes we don’t wanna hear that answer to our prayers. And so, while I was waiting to have lung surgery for the masses on my lungs, the doctors at Mayo found – finally found – what’s going on.'

Her diagnosis with ALS comes less than three months after Eric Dane, known as 'McSteamy' on Grey's Anatomy, died of the same illness; Dane pictured on the series