US actor Anne Heche declared ‘legally dead’

Having lost all brain function, she is “legally dead according to California law,” though her heart is still beating as her family keeps her body on life support while exploring organ donations, spokeswoman Holly Baird told AFP.

“Today we lost a bright light, a kind and most joyful soul, a loving mother, and a loyal friend,” the family said in a joint statement. “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.”

Heche’s son Homer Laffoon said in a separate statement, “My brother Atlas and I lost our Mom. Hopefully my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom,” he wrote.

‘No hope of survival’

Heche remained hospitalised in critical condition, comatose and connected to a breathing machine on Monday, four days after suffering severe injuries in a fiery Los Angeles car crash. She was hospitalised since shortly after the compact car she was driving sped out of control in a Westside neighborhood of Los Angeles late Friday morning, plowed into a house and burst into flames, according to police.

The violent collision resulted in “structural compromise and… heavy fire” at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The ensuing blaze took 59 firefighters more than an hour to contain and fully extinguish, the department said. A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said on Monday the cause and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation

Local media reported Thursday that preliminary tests of Heche’s blood had come back positive for narcotics, though more were needed to ensure the drugs had not been administered in the course of her treatment. Celebrity gossip outlet TMZ, citing unnamed police sources, said Heche had tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, with the latter sometimes used for pain relief in clinical settings.

Heche was initially in a coma and did not regain consciousness after the accident, Michael McConnell had said earlier, a member of the Los Angeles talent management company representing her, Zero Gravity Management.

“At this time, she is in extremely critical condition,” he had told Reuters in a text message, adding that Heche “has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention.”

The Los Angeles Times quoted a Venice Beach salon owner, Richard Glass, recounting a visit by Heche to his shop shortly before the accident, describing her as “a sweet little girl” as she purchased a red wig on Friday morning.

Heche was best known for 1990s films Donnie Brasco and Six Days, Seven Nights as well as a high-profile relationship with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Heche rose to fame with her role in the soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy in 1991. She was nominated for a Tony award for her appearance in Twentieth Century on Broadway in 2004.