Anne Heche dead at 53 after fiery cocaine-fueled crash one week ago: Actress has NO brain function but her heart is being kept beating to preserve her organs for donation
- Anne Heche is officially dead, her rep says, because she is brain dead in hospital
- The 53-year-old is being mourned by Hollywood including her ex-girlfriend, Ellen De Generes
- Heche, who struggled with addiction, was said by police to have been high on cocaine while driving
- She plowed her car into the home of Lynne Mishele, leaving the woman with unspecified but serious injuries
- Police were investigating felony charges because of the extent of Mishele’s injuries
- Heche’s team yesterday said she was not going to survive; she was declared braindead yesterday
- Her family kept her alive on a ventilator while doctors harvested her organs for donation until Friday
Actress Anne Heche, shown in March, was declared dead today a week after a horrifying crash in Los Angeles
Actress Anne Heche was declared dead today by her rep, a week after crashing her car into a Los Angeles home.
The actress had been hospitalized at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital north of Los Angeles after a horror crash on August 5.
Yesterday, a representative for her loved ones confirmed she was brain dead and was only being kept alive on life support so that doctors could harvest her organs for donation.
‘We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne’s recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital.’
‘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.’
Today, her rep tells TMZ that while the ventilator is keeping her heart beating for organ harvest, she is technically dead under California law.
Her family told People in a statement: ‘Today we lost a bright light, a kind and most joyful soul, a loving mother, and a loyal friend,” a rep for the star tells PEOPLE in a statement on behalf of Heche’s family and friends.
‘Anne will be deeply missed but she lives on through her beautiful sons, her iconic body of work, and her passionate advocacy. Her bravery for always standing in her truth, spreading her message of love and acceptance, will continue to have a lasting impact.’
Earlier, Heche’s ex Ellen DeGeneres tweeted her sadness upon learning that Heche was not expected to survive.
‘This is a sad day. I’m sending Anne’s children, family and friends all of my love.’
The crash left homeowner Lynne Mishele with injuries so severe that it prompted a felony investigation by police.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Heche was high on cocaine when she was driving, but that is yet to be confirmed by a publicly released toxicology report.
Actress Anne Heche (pictured being wheeled into an ambulance after the crash) has been intubated in a critical condition after crashing her Mini Clubman into a garage before speeding off and smashing it into a home where it exploded
An interior shot shows the Mini Clubman’s airbag had blown out along with most of the decor being burnt through following the crash
A photo before the August 5 crash shows Heche moments before the second accident at the wheel with a bottle of vodka in the cup holder
The actress suffered extreme smoke inhalation from the fire.
Yesterday, her representative said: ‘At this time, Anne is in extreme critical condition. She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention.
‘She is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident.’
Terrifying video showed the actress driving at high speed, straight into a busy road, moments before the crash.
In her final Instagram post, Heche posed happily on the set of a small film.
‘Good times on set with Lawrence Bros! ❤️’ the actress wrote in her caption.
DailyMail.com has learned she was shooting a small role in the romantic comedy called Frankie Meets Jack in Braintree, Massachusetts. The film wrapped in mid July and is still expected to be released next year.
Heche shot to fame in the 1990s with demure Hollywood roles. In a candid memoir years later, she revealed having to overcome a childhood of trauma when she was raped by her closeted, gay father.
She is survived by her two sons.
Heche began a high-profile affair with Ellen DeGeneres in 1997. She said it was her first lesbian romance and claimed ‘it was the best sex I’ve ever had.’
As a result of their public breakup in 2000, Heche said she was blacklisted from Hollywood and her relationship with her mother was strained because she thought her daughter’s same-sex romance was ‘a sin’.
Mishele can been seen trying to salvage what she could after the fire was put out
Last one: Anne Heche looked happy in her very last Instagram post shared on July 14. The star – who is on life support after crashing her car into a Los Angeles home a week ago and is not expected to live, per her rep – smiled while on the beach set of a film with Joey Lawrence and his wife Samantha Cope Lawrence as well as Andrew Lawrence
The actress is survived by her two sons, Homer Laffoon, 20, and Atlas Tupper, 13 (pictured with her ex-husband James Tupper in 2012). In a statement, the family said: ‘She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light
Before plowing her car into a home at 1766 South Walgrove Avenue, Heche first crashed her car into an apartment building in Los Angeles on Friday morning around 11:00 am, she fled that scene and continued driving on the same block before crashing into another home.
Heche first crashed her Mini on a garage block, before racing away, plowing through a hedge and ending up fully submerged in Mishele’s home on 1766 South Walgrove Avenue. A photograph taken by onlookers pictured a small bottle of vodka in the cupholder.
Authorities eventually determined that Heche had no alcohol in her system, but was high on cocaine at the time of the accident.
Hours before her horrifying crash, Heche slurred her way through a podcast, saying that she was downing vodka and wine after having ‘a very bad day.’
Today, her family has chosen to turn off life support after doctors officially declared the actress brain dead. They kept her alive on a ventilator, to determine if her organs were health enough for 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 statement said.
The actress is survived by both ex husbands, her two sons, her mother and sister. She was allegedly dating celebrity dermatologist, Peter Thomas Roth at the time of her death.
Heche married cameraman Coley Laffoon in 2001. They had one son, named Homer, born in 2002, before the couple divorced in 2009
