Anne Heche: Actress, legally dead, removed from life support for organ transplants

Actress Anne Heche, declared legally dead Friday after a fiery crash earlier this month, has been removed from life support after organ transplant recipients were found, a representative for Heche’s family said Sunday night.

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“Anne Heche has been peacefully taken off life support,” read a statement from the spokesperson, Holly Baird, according to Reuters and CNN.

Heche, 53, died from injuries she sustained when her vehicle crashed into a Los Angeles home on Aug. 5, according to the Los Angeles Times. A person declared brain dead is considered legally dead under California law.

Earlier Sunday, a spokesperson confirmed to CNN and NBC News that Heche would be removed from life support and that surgeons were ready to perform the transplants.

Anne Heche will be taken off of life support Sunday afternoon, a spokesperson for the actor says. https://t.co/nAv5BB8ogT
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 14, 2022

TMZ also reported about the life support update and the impending organ removals.

“My brother Atlas and I lost our Mom. After six days of almost unbelievable emotional swings, I am left with a deep, wordless sadness,” Heche’s son, Homer, wrote in a statement obtained by the Times on Friday. “Hopefully my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom.

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that it ended its investigation into the fiery car accident that took Heche’s life.

Anne Heche: Los Angeles police end investigation into car crash

On Thursday night, Baird said the Emmy-Award-winning actress had suffered an “anoxic” brain injury after the crash. Heche was in critical condition and had slipped into a coma, Baird said.

Heche’s vehicle crashed into the home owned by Jennifer Durand and occupied by tenant Lynne Mishele, People reported.

During the 1990s, Heche played opposite actors including Johnny Depp (“Donnie Brasco”) and Harrison Ford (“Six Days, Seven Nights”).

Actress Anne Heche dies at 53 after car crash

From 2001 to 2009, she was married to camera operator Coleman Laffoon, with whom she had a son. She had another son during a relationship with actor James Tupper, her co-star on the TV series “Men In Trees.”

She recently had recurring roles on the network TV series “Chicago P.D.” and “All Rise,” and in 2020 was a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Heche is also known for her roles as Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in the soap opera “Another World” and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991, the Times reported.

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