American actress Anne Heche has died a week after being seriously injured in a car accident in Los Angeles, United States, a spokeswoman said on Friday. Having lost all her brain function, Anne Heche “has legally died under California law” but her heart continues to beat to facilitate organ donation, her spokeswoman Holly Baird told AFP.
The accident caused “serious brain injuries,” according to a statement from a representative for the 53-year-old actress. According to various US media, she “was not going to survive” and was kept alive “to determine if some of her (her organs) were viable” for donation.
The actress had been in a coma since her accident on August 5 when her car crashed into a two-story house, “causing structural damage and a massive fire,” according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fire took 65 minutes to be put out by 59 firefighters, according to the same source.
An ongoing investigation
Los Angeles police said in a statement Thursday that they would be conducting blood tests on Anne Heche and that investigators would “take the matter to the appropriate legal authority.” However, the police did not give details about the possible legal consequences.
Local media reported the same day that preliminary tests had come back positive for the narcotic. But other tests must be done to ensure that the positive result is not related to medical treatment.
According to celebrity coverage publication TMZ, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, Ms. Heche tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, an ultra-potent and addictive synthetic opiate used in some treatments.
Success in the 1990s
Anne Heche starred in a large number of films in the 1990s, including “Six Days, Seven Nights” or “Donnie Brasco”. She is also known for her role on the soap opera “Another World”, which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991.
In the 1990s, he was in a high-profile relationship with host Ellen DeGeneres.
“My brother Atlas and I have lost our mother,” her son Homer Laffoon said in a statement. “I hope my mother is no longer in pain,” he added.
“Today we lose such a radiant light, such a gentle and joyful soul, a loving mother and a loyal friend,” the family said in another joint statement. “Anne will be deeply missed, but her wonderful children, her immense work and her passionate struggles will survive her,” she adds.
Source: BFM TV
