Anne Heche suffered a “severe brain injury” and is not expected to survive after her horrific car crash.
Despite reports Friday that she had died, her representative told The Daily Beast at around 2 p.m. EDT that Heche was still on life support.
“She was declared brain dead last night but has been kept on life support for organ donation. Her heart is still beating…,” the statement said.
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Late Thursday, Heche’s spokesperson said that, although the actress remains in hospital in critical condition, preparations are already in place for her organs to be donated.
“Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition,” the rep said in the statement on behalf of Heche’s family. “She is not expected to survive.”
“It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she’s being kept on life support to determine if any are viable.”
“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.
The statement said Heche will be remembered for her “courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light.
“Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life’s work—especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love.”
The news came hours after it was revealed that Heche was driving under the influence of cocaine, law enforcement sources in Los Angeles told TMZ and the Los Angeles Times.
Investigators obtained a warrant to test Heche’s blood soon after she crashed her Mini Cooper into a Mar Vista residence on Friday, causing a blaze that destroyed the house. They told TMZ that no alcohol had been detected but that traces of fentanyl had shown up in the results, alongside the cocaine.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department later confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that a blood test came back positive for narcotics but further testing would be required to eliminate anything administered to the actress in the hospital. Fentanyl is sometimes used in pain-management medication.
A Venice wig salon owner who interacted with Heche less than half an hour before the crash told the Times earlier this week that the actress hadn’t appeared to be “speaking in cursive”—his term for being inebriated or in an altered state of consciousness.
The 53-year-old had seemed more like “a sweet little girl,” Richard Glass explained to the newspaper. At one point, he remembered, she had “grabbed” his face, cuddling it.
Law enforcement sources told TMZ on Wednesday that the case had been bumped up from a misdemeanor hit-and-run to a felony DUI. The change had been made, they said, after Lynne Mishele, the Mar Vista homeowner, reported suffering minor injuries while escaping from her burning house.
In a Thursday statement, the LAPD said that investigators were still gathering additional evidence, including “final toxicology results” (emphasis theirs) and “medical records from both parties involved.”
“It is the intent of the investigating Detectives to present this case to the appropriate prosecuting office; the Los Angeles County District Attorney or the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office once all pertinent evidence has been gathered,” the department said, noting there was “no definite direction” yet as to which office would receive the case.
Deadline confirmed Thursday that Heche’s next project, a Lifetime movie called Girl In Room 13, remains on track for a September premiere.
Read it at TMZ
