Lauren Moye, FISM News
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Actress Anne Heche died after her life support was turned off Friday, a week after her fiery car crash in Los Angeles, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.
A family representative for Heche, 53, had previously announced that she was not expected to survive a severe brain injury resulting from a car crash last Friday.
Yesterday, Heche’s spokesperson shared the following statement from the family:
Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive.
Anoxic brain injury occurs when there is oxygen deprivation that results in cellular death.
The actress had been in a coma since the early morning hours of Aug. 5, when she allegedly drove into a two-story Los Angeles home and ignited a fire. The resulting smoke insulation may have contributed to the anoxic brain injury.
Grossman Burn Center of West Hills Hospital had continued life support in order to help with organ donation.
“It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable,” the spokesperson said.
On Aug. 6, Heche crashed her blue Mini Cooper three separate times across a half-hour period. She first crashed into the garage of an apartment complex, then into a car. Before 11 a.m. PT, she drove her car into a Mar Vista neighborhood home.
Her vehicle moved at a rate fast enough that it “came to rest well within” the home, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The crash caused “structural compromise” and erupted into flames that then engulfed the home. It took 59 firefighters over an hour to put out the flames.
Thankfully, Heche was the only reported injury resulting from the collisions and fire.
An investigation into the crash is still ongoing. The Los Angeles Police Department said yesterday that “there is no definite direction of which prosecutorial office will be presented” until all evidence has been gathered.
However, TMZ, the online tabloid newspaper under Fox Corporation, reported the presence of cocaine and fentanyl in Heche’s system on Aug. 5. Police and hospital reports have not indicated if the fentanyl was present at the time of the crash or if it was administered as pain management after admission to the hospital.
Heche starred alongside actors like Johnny Depp in “Donnie Brasco” and Harrison Ford in “Six Days, Seven Nights.” She also starred in “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and the remake of “Psycho.”
Heche is a mother of two. Homer Laffoon, 20, was born to her and her former husband Coley Laffoon. Atlas Heche Tupper, 13, is the son of the actress’ former romantic partner, James Tupper.
Updates to this report were provided by Thomson/Reuters.