Actor Anne Heche Pronounced 'Brain Dead' At 53: Family [UPDATED]

[packman]

Source: Huffpost

Actor Anne Heche was pronounced “brain dead” on Friday following injuries from a car crash days earlier, according to a joint statement her family and friends shared with news outlets.

HuffPost and other outlets initially reported on Friday that Heche had died. Her family and friends later clarified to CNN and NBC News that she was on life support while they determine if she’s a match for organ donation.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/actor-anne-heche-dead_n_62f1be02e4b0f9d8c01fa9c4

[Skittles]

1. I'm glad she did not have to suffer for long

my sympathy to her loved ones

[llashram]

2. this is sad

I'm just glad no one else was hurt.

[Random Boomer]

70. I'm amazed no one else was hurt

Heche didn't just run into a building. She ran THROUGH it, and she did this after crashing into a car on the street just beforehand. She came very close to killing the building's resident (along with her pets).

[The Mouth]

3. What about the woman she very nearly killed who lost *everything*

I'll care as soon as that lady is made completely whole of *everything* she lost, until then GMAFB.

Drugged, speeding 60mph down a narrow street, having already hit one building; she could have killed a people. All this sympathy for someone just because they were beautiful and famous, not a *word* about the woman who is now homeless and unable to work.

[montanacowboy]

4. Totally Agree

I hope she sues her insurance company and can put her life together
I have no sympathy for self destructive people

[patricia92243]

5. Yes!

[hamsterjill]

7. Oh. Come on!

All this sympathy is for someone who had publicly lived a very troubled life. No one is trying to minimize what she did and certainly (and assuredly) the woman she harmed should most definitely be made whole - and then some.

But I don’t like this crap I keep seeing on DU from people who can’t even mourn a death. It’s way too indicative of Republican thinking in my opinion.

I thought Democrats had more compassion.

[chowder66]

24. +1

[AngryOldDem]

27. +1

Clearly she was extremely troubled, and her demons won. In GD, someone said it was just another celebrity who couldn’t be happy.

Sometimes, this place can be so tone-deaf.

I’m sorry for the woman who lost her home. But I’m also sorry for Heche, who for all intents, killed herself. Compassion is not a zero-sum game. It’s a tragedy all around.

[ShazzieB]

43. +1

[JanMichael]

47. Agreed. The holier than thou folks make me sick.

[Thtwudbeme]

49. Dems do not have "more compassion" Apparently they are just selective about their compassion.

It's sickening.

The Holier-than-thou types are really out on this one.

[secondwind]

53. +1

[KPN]

59. +1. Thank you for taking the time to post

that response. It should go without saying, but obviously it does not. Rock throwers everywhere it seems. Disappointing.

[Kali]

8. I've seen lots of posts about her

[Polly Hennessey]

9. Why is she unable to work.

A GoFundMe raised over $100,000 for her and her dogs. The owner of the house most likely has insurance. Ms. Heche is dead and leaves two sons, 20 and 13. I have enough sympathy for all concerned. 💕

[catrose]

21. It's up to $151K now

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-lynne-mishele-after-devastating-fire-loss

She lost everything, including her business computers and supplies, but I hope the funds will help her back on her feet. Fire is such a trauma.

[Thtwudbeme]

50. The top iPad (that "pro" one) and the best laptop

can be had for about 5 grand.

She'll be fine.

[Heather MC]

10. I haven't been following this story

I'm not surprised, that woman was a hot mess. may she rest in peace

[KTinaY2008]

12. I don't understand

why it's an either/or thing. I have the capacity to care about the innocent woman and her pets. I'm sorry she lost almost everything, and I hope for peace and comfort during this time. I'm also sad for a fellow human that reportedly suffered from mental health problems, where she likely self-medicated and developed substance abuse problems.

As a country we fail miserably at taking mental health seriously and we fail at treating it. We lose so many people to mental health disease and the person that struggles with it are treated less than.

I'm sad Anne Heche struggled with mental health problems. I'm said she suffered from substance abuse problems. I'm sad she died. I'm sad an innocent woman lost everything. I can feel all of this.

[chowder66]

25. +1

[Upthevibe]

39. KTinaY2008....I agree with you

100%.

[Karma13612]

45. Bravo!!!!

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏❤️🙋🏼‍♀️

[azureblue]

52. it's because

some people have such empty lives they have to criticize what others are saying about other people.

My condolences to her family. And to her - she spun out of control and it caught up with her in a tragic way. No amount of money will bring a person back to life..

[pandr32]

55. 100%, and add that her sons are left to deal with the aftermath and grief

[pnwmom]

14. Anne Heche lost her life,

and I offer sympathy to her friends and family, including two children.

And plenty of people here, like you, have expressed concern for the woman who lost her home, but not her life.

[The Mouth]

19. Really? Where?

I did a search for Lynne Mishele. Crickets

Only good looking, famous people matter.

Having lost both friends and family members to people who drove under the influence, my sympathies lie with victims, not the people who traumatize them.

[pnwmom]

26. They've been commenting, like you did, in the threads about Heche. n/t

[The Mouth]

34. Not a one even mentioned her name

kind on the level of 'Thoughts and Prayers'.

[pnwmom]

35. Most people would rather not become famous because of an accident like this. nt

[Thtwudbeme]

20. There have been many stories about her. She was a renter, so she did not lose "her" house

(not putting down renters- just saying that she is not going to get insurance/ rebuilding costs)...and she has about 150,000 on Gofundme funds available to her.

She works from home- forgot her company- but it's online work, so unless she had documents stored on a thumb drive- she did not lose that.

All her pets are fine.

[The Mouth]

37. So you would be OK losing all your posessions for that?

And of course, the people who owned the building that the car ALMOST DROVE ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

But only celebrity lives matter.

Sorry, having lost friends and family members to 'people' who got behind the wheel of a car when they shouldn't, all this sympathy for someone who drove at a high rate of speed down a residential street and missed killing an innocent person by feet, and AFTER they drove into another building, my concerns are with the lady who almost got killed.

I don't care what demons a person has if they drive in a way and/or condition to endanger the lives of innocent people. I'm sure the guy who wiped out my friend and roomie had issues, too.

[Thtwudbeme]

38. I do not recall writing that I was "fine" with a house and belongings

being destroyed.

I was pointing out that she didn't "lose everything."

I understand that you have had a traumatic and horrifying event related to this; however- that shouldn't affect your ability to read what I wrote and not infer statements that are not there.

[imavoter]

58. She can still sue Heche's estate for her losses.

It doesn't mean we can't have compassion
for family losing Heche...

but if one sustains a loss due to to another's
negligence, the estate can still be held liable.

Addiction is a nasty, bitch. Compassion
all around for the wronged and the dead.

[ailsagirl]

57. I read that, incredibly, it was 90 mph

Was this a suicide??

[chia]

63. Statement from Lynne Mishele:

"The news of Anne Heche passing is devastating. Her family and her friends and her children especially really have suffered a great loss and my heart goes out for them. This entire situation is tragic and there really are just no words. I am sending love to everyone involved."

She seems a gracious and loving person, I hope she heals from the trauma of that day..

[pnwmom]

71. What about Heche's two children who just lost their mother?

And their friends and other relatives.

[catbyte]

6. How horrifying. I hope she wasn't conscious for long. I read that she did respond to a

neighbor who was trying to get her out of the car immediately after the accident, but it was impossible to free her. I can't get out of my head the horror she must've felt.

Sorry if this post is TMI, but I just can't imagine. I think it's just despicable she was DUI speeding, but still, yeesh. And it's not because she was "beautiful and famous," it's because she was a human being who was clearly in a lot of pain. I wouldn't feel this way if she were killed outright, but she knew she was being burned alive. That said, I'm reserving most of my sympathy for the poor innocent woman who lost everything, and I hope she is made whole as much as she can be.

[LeftInTX]

11. She's been in a coma since Monday

And she's been on a ventilator since the accident, so I don't think she suffered.

[catbyte]

16. She was trapped in a burning car for over an hour before rescue units could free her. She

was conscious for some if not all of that time. I think that's pretty horrifying, but YMMV.

[Ms. Toad]

44. She was conscious and fighting after she was placed on the stretcher. n/t

[deurbano]

13. I didn't read that horrifying detail, but saw a video from afar of her sitting up on the stretcher

right before they put her into the ambulance. I think I read she slipped into a coma soon after that.

I wasn't exactly a fan, but geez, she has two children, one not yet an adult, and other loved ones. She was talented and productive, and many people were entertained and/or moved by her work and life. It appears she was a very troubled person at some stages of her life, but that's not all she was.

Perhaps more will emerge about her final hours, but it seems she had cocaine and fentanyl in her system, which makes me wonder if she knew the latter was in whatever she ingested (since it is often an unknown addition these days)... or if she was addicted to opioids... or ? We don't know those answers, but we do know she certainly paid a heavy price. Thankfully, and almost miraculously, she didn't take anyone with her on that final, disastrous journey. I hope the poor woman whose lifetime of belongings was totally destroyed will find generous compensation from the estate/insurance, even though that will be grossly inadequate for such a huge personal loss and terrifying experience.

RIP to Ms. Heche, and condolences to those who loved her.

[NH Ethylene]

17. It makes sense that someone with a bad head injury could be okay at first,

Then get worse quickly as a brain bleed progresses.

[deurbano]

23. I should have remembered that from Natasha Richardson's death.

Seeing Heche sitting up on the stretcher and seeming to interact with the rescue team gave a false impression of the severity of her condition. Of course, the communication from a representative that she was in "stable" condition reinforced that impression.

[LeftInTX]

42. I thought it was the burns

3 days later..Body takes a few days to get to the worst part

[chowder66]

28. I read they are re-testing or doing further testing regarding fentanyl because hospitals use it.

They do say cocaine was found in her system but no alcohol.

https://www.tmz.com/2022/08/11/anne-heche-under-influence-cocaine-fentanyl-car-crash-house-condition/

It's a tragedy no matter which way you look at these things but when you have mental health issues, making irrational decisions isn't unexpected. Fortunately the woman who had everything destroyed was trying to raise $100k and is now past $150k.

Hopefully the homeowner can recover costs for the home.

[deurbano]

30. Oh, I hadn't heard the fentanyl might have been from the hospital. I know it ends up lacing or

replacing a lot of drugs these days, so I thought it might be implicated. My friend's grandson died of an overdose last year, and the coroner believed it was an accident, and that he'd thought he was getting something other than 100% fentanyl. Here in SF, there are fentanyl testing strips available at some bars (and elsewhere) because the problem is so pervasive.

[chowder66]

31. Wow. That is scary.

I'm sorry about your friends son.

[pnwmom]

80. TMZ says that. But I saw it from no official source.

All I've heard is she did have some drugs show up in her blood, but they'll have to do a second round of testing to see if there were any other drugs besides what she might have been given by medical personnel.

Pain killers, for example.

[Thtwudbeme]

22. The woman in the house that burned did not "lose everything." See my post above

I am not putting down the fact that I am sure she lost a life time of mementos, artwork etc...but she runs an online business, was a renter, and all her pets are fine. She has 150,000 or so available to her from GoFundme.

[SunSeeker]

15. Hopefully a few lives will be saved with her organs. nt

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

18. This annoys me no end.

And it happens all the time. A person isn't even cold and all the armchair experts are weighing in.

Until such time as an autopsy is performed and a tox panel is reviewed by a pathologist, NO ONE knows anything about WHAT, if anything, she was taking, drinking or whatever.

I am sick of all the vultures picking at the carrion of a dead human being.

STOP IT.

[pnwmom]

36. All they know is she had some narcotics in her blood, but those drugs might have been medically

administered. They won't know till they finish testing whether she had any illicit drugs in her system.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

77. That is EXACTLY my point.

According to one of my physicians, well over half the country has been on anti-depressants or Xanax since 2016.

[pnwmom]

78. Right. And also the emergency crew could have administered pain killers

that would show up in a later blood test.

We won't know the answer for more than a month.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

79. What you just said there makes a lot of sense,

considering that it took them an hour to extract her from the car and that she had sat there for the whole time, engulfed in flames.

[PlanetBev]

29. The whole thing is a colossal heartache

for all involved. Just so sad. I am happy the lady who lost everything will be able to get back on her feet.

[Thtwudbeme]

33. She didn't lose everything.

See my post above.

[niyad]

46. STOP IT. Just stop it. Just because the woman didn't own the house does NOT make

her loss less. She lost everything of HERS. How hard is that to understand? I am disappointed that this needs to be pointed out on a Democratic board.

[Thtwudbeme]

48. I am disappointed that people on a Democratic board

think it's sadder to lose possessions rather than suffer a lifetime of trauma, addiction, and then a painful death.

So, you have to excuse me if your "outrage" over my statement that the woman now has plenty of money (158,000 as of right now), her life and all of her beloved pets safe didn't "lose everything" means little to me.

Have you ever been in a house fire? I was- I put the leash on the dog grabbed my roommate's young son by the hand and walked right out the door knowing I could "lose everything." That was in the 80's...there was no gofundme...nothing. I think I had renter's insurance, I can't remember. But I remember looking at Trey (the son) and Melanie (the mutt) playing in the park I took them to and thinking, "Holy crap...I just got lucky." My great grandmother's jewelry, and all my photos were in that house.

Maybe we (the royal "we" ) need to rethink our priorities?

I hope that helps.

[XorXor]

62. It's not mutually exclusive, though.

And even though the lady may not own the building that she called home, it was still her home with all of her belongings... It's a tragic situation all around and there is no need to minimize the suffering that Heche went through, what her family is going through, and also what the person who lost her home is going through. No need to rethink priorities or minimize the losses of one or the other.

[Thtwudbeme]

67. You are correct- it is tragic all around. I was responding to the people

that wrote they were more concerned about "the person who lost everything."

Sorry- I DO think they need to rethink their priorities in life.

[ThingsGottaChange]

65. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

So, she didn't OWN the house. But, it was her home. How can you not get that? She lost all her belongings and all of her business just as if she OWNED the house. But, she was just a renter. So that makes her loss 'not so bad'?

Every time you post you make yourself sound like you think you are so much better than someone who just 'rents'. IMO you are so much less. And you try to make it sound all ok because her beloved pets lived. They are all she has now. I just can't believe some people...

[Thtwudbeme]

66. And what is wrong with you? I did not write anything disparaging about renters

at all.

I simply responded to the person who said "I feel sorry for the person who lost everything."

No, she did not.

I feel bad for both the actress who died, and for the people who had property destroyed. But suggesting that the woman whose house caught on fire "lost everything" is hyperbolic and disingenuous.

[Thtwudbeme]

69. BTW- her business was online

not to put too fine of a point on things, but you do realize that her business is based in the cloud? She is now up to almost 170,000 in a gofundme campaign- which will cover her iPad and computer. I hope she gets more in renter's insurance.

So, maybe all of us can feel sorry for the actress, her family, and the loss of property instead of this bullshit about "she lost everything."

Hope that helps.

[littlemissmartypants]

32. Sympathy for Ms. Heche, the dead, her friends, family and for those who can't find sympathy for the

Dead

.

[Upthevibe]

40. littlemissmartypants.......Thank you for your post....

I'm with you 100%....

[littlemissmartypants]

41. ❤

[Higherarky]

56. I'm with Up ...

🕯️

[littlemissmartypants]

60. ❤

[pnwmom]

72. She has two children who must be mourning her now. We can at least feel for them. nt

[littlemissmartypants]

73. ❤

[twodogsbarking]

51. Life is difficult. More so for some. Truly a shame.

[heckles65]

54. I'm really sorry that people here

are taking an either/or attitude toward this incident. I thought DUers were the type of people who were better than strict binaries.

I liked Anne. She was always enjoyable onscreen. Some messages on FB from people who worked with her have said that she was pleasant to work with and devoted to her craft. I will miss her.

I sympathize with the woman who lost her house.

I can hold these thoughts simultaneously.

[XorXor]

61. Agreed. Who gets sympathy isn't mutually exclusive thing.

I suspect that the vast majority of people discussing this don't take as hard of a stance as it may come off when just reading their comments. As in, I doubt there are many people who don't feel bad for Heche and her family. Nor do I think there are many people who think the lady who lost her home (whether she owns the house or not, it's still her home) should just get over it. It may come off like that at times, but I find that generally people are not totally devoid of humanity.

[Skittles]

68. disgusting to see on a progressive board

very disappointing

[Tarc]

64. Zero sympathy for driving under the influence

I hope the homeowner can recoup losses from Heche's estate.

[pnwmom]

74. They haven't yet determined that. There were drugs in her system that could have been

administered by the emergency personnel.

They had to do another round of testing to find out if there was something else, too.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told NBC News that Heche's "blood draw revealed the presence of drugs" and said the case is being investigated as a felony DUI traffic collision.

A second test of Heche's blood will be conducted "to rule out any substance/medication administered at the hospital," the spokesperson said, adding that he could not yet comment on the presence of cocaine, fentanyl or alcohol.

Additional testing would be needed to determine that information, the spokesperson said, and can take 30-90 days.

https://www.today.com/popculture/popculture/anne-heche-blood-test-presence-drugs-car-crash-rcna42720

[Tarc]

75. Non-DUI people don't fly down residential streets at 100mph

My conscience is clear in calling this a drunken dumbass, and bidding good riddance.

[pnwmom]

76. There are other possible reasons, like someone having a seizure while they were driving,

or a stroke, or a heart attack. Another possible reason is that she was mentally ill and suicidal. That wouldn't be something under her control, either.

Why don't we wait for the autopsy before condemning her?

This is about a 46 year old man who suffered a heart attack while driving and got killed in a crash, along with his daughter.

https://lmlamplighter.com/la-mirada-car-crash-victim-had-heart-attack-prior-to-wreck/

The driver of a gray Chrysler 300 was eastbound on Rosecrans Avenue, approaching Beach Boulevard, at a high rate of speed when it first sheared the fire hydrant and then slammed into the power pole, bringing it to the ground just before 8 a.m., Sgt. Raymond Munoz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The mangled wreckage ended up at a Shell gas station on the southeast corner of the intersection, he said. The man, who was driving, and his daughter were ejected from the vehicle.

Both victims died at the scene, Munoz said.

SNIP

Michael Joseph Oliveri (46) was taken from his beautiful family on April 30, 2022, after suffering a heart attack that resulted in a tragic automobile accident with his daughter Karlie in La Mirada, California.

[leftyladyfrommo]

81. So many in the entertainment industry die so young. Too much of everything.

I will never get over Janis Joplin. So many incredibly talented people dead way before their time.