Representatives for the family and friends of actress Anne Heche have said that she has officially been declared brain dead after her fiery car crash in Los Angeles and will be taken off life support.
The actress, 53, will stay on a ventilator to determine whether any of her remaining organs are viable to be donated, per Heche’s wishes.
A rep for her loved ones said: ‘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.’
They added that it has ‘long been her choice’ to be an organ donor, so she will remain technically alive until the check is complete.
Family for the actress, 53, said she will stay on a ventilator to determine whether any of her remaining viable organs can be donated, per Heche’s wishes
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 rep for her loved ones said: ‘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 continued: ‘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. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light.’
The actress, 53, was last reported still in a coma fighting for her life in the ‘worst state you can imagine’ after crashing her car into a house at 90mph while ‘high on cocaine’ last Friday.
It was reported that cocaine was found in Heche’s blood stream following the horrific crash – but officials confirmed that she had not been drinking alcohol, despite being pictured with a vodka bottle in her cupholder.
A close friend of the actress told DailyMail.com: ‘She is in a terrible condition. The smoke inhalation is life threatening.
‘It will be a miracle if she recovers from this and comes out of this coma.’
The 53-year-old suffered horrific burns during the collision and was recorded being dragged out of the mangled wreck by firefighters after it burst into flames in Los Angeles around 11 a.m.
The actress lost control of her car as it careened into a home, and ignited a fire that badly burned her, leaving her in ‘extreme critical condition,’ her rep said.
It reportedly took 59 firefighters 65 minutes to ‘access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames’ that were caused by Heche’s crash.
‘She will be in a coma for a long time and there are fears she could die because her lungs don’t work on their own,’ an anonymous source told DailyMail.com.
Heche was filmed being saved from the horrific scene by firefighters, wrapped up in a white towel from to presumably prevent infections to her severe burns, before ripping the towels off her as they load her into the ambulance.
LAPD are treating the horrific crash as a potential felony, due to the injuries inflicted on the woman inside the home, Lynne Mishele, and sources told TMZ that the actress was under the influence of cocaine.
It’s unclear what the extent of Mishele’s injuries are.
Heche ‘has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention,’ according to her rep.
‘She is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident,’ they added.
Heche is being treated at the Grossman Burn Unit – founded by the father of Dr Peter Grossman, according to Showbiz411. His wife, Rebecca Grossman, has been accused of killed two brothers, aged 11 and 8, as they crossed a street with their parents on a marked crosswalk. She has pleaded not guilty.
Heche can be seen being removed from the scene on a stretcher and taken toward a waiting ambulance
Pictures and video showed her looking dazed at the wheel after the first crash, with a witness capturing her with a bottle with a red top on it in her car. It is not clear what was in the container but it looked like a vodka bottle
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the crash caused ‘structural compromise and erupting in heavy fire’
Heche’s blue Mini Clubman is shown on a doorbell camera speeding past a home along South Walgrove Avenue in the Mar Vista neighborhood around 90 miles per hour
Mishele can been seen trying to salvage what she could after the fire was put out
Earlier on Monday, newly released footage saw the moments before the crash in which Heche almost mowed down a woman.
She was recorded speeding down an alleyway and narrowly missing the pedestrian as she walked along the sidewalk in the Mar Vista area of the city.
The woman, who has not been identified, whipped around in astonishment as the blue Mini Clubman raced past just before 11 a.m. on Friday.
It comes as police insiders revealed Heche, who was intubated with horrific burns after the terrifying crash, is set to be investigated over the 90mph smash.
A picture taken by a witness before the crash showed her in her blue Mini Clubman with a bottle with a red top on it looking glassy eyed.
Meanwhile new images showed the moment the shocked homeowner watched her ‘entire lifetime of possessions’ go up in flames during the horror collision on Friday morning.
Lynne Mishele was photographed looking on in disbelief as her life’s work erupted in a fireball after the actress tore through it at breakneck speed.
She was seen on the sidewalk outside with her hands in her pockets looking gobsmacked as 59 firefighters battled the huge blaze that took over an hour to put out.
Homeowner Lynne Mishele, seen in the maroon, stands across the street from her home looking dazed and confused after actress Anne Heche slammed a Mini into the side of her house and triggered a large fire
Firefighters pick their way through the charred debris of Lynne Mishele’s house after successfully extinguishing the blaze
Firefighters enter the property as large clouds of smoke billow from the scene of the high speed crash
Devastation is seen at Lynne’s house after actress Anne Heche plowed 30ft into the property driving a Mini at high speed
Mishele can be seen, left, as she surveys the damage to her home
Mishele can be seen outside of her wrecked home in the minutes following the crash – Heche’s Mini still on the right, waiting to be removed
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.
Footage also shows Heche’s blue Mini Clubman racing down a narrow alleyway at breakneck speed before the fiery crash at Mishele’s house.
She did not immediately brake despite a woman being seen walking across the exit on to the main road, with the actress only at the last minute tapping the pedal.
The five-second clip came to an end as the staggered pedestrian turns around to look at the car as it tears off into the distance.
The insiders said they had a warrant to draw her blood because they believe she was intoxicated but it could take weeks to get the results.
They said the minimum the actress could face is hit-and-run charges for the garage crash which saw her quickly take off despite being filmed by shocked witnesses.
Before the crash, a slurring Heche joked on a podcast about drinking vodka with wine chasers – claiming at the time that she was having a ‘very bad day.’
The actress, 53, was recorded speeding down an alleyway and narrowly missing the pedestrian as she walked down the sidewalk in Mar Vista
This is the shocking moment Anne Heche almost mowed down a woman before she plowed through a house and her car exploded in Los Angeles
Better Together, which she co-hosts, aired just hours before she crashed her car into the house. She and co-host Heather Duffy say Refined – a vodka distillery which sponsored one of their shows – gave them free alcohol.
‘We each have a bottle in front of us because our friends sent us a bottle of Refined and I think we even did a bad commercial for them in the beginning of our days.
‘Dr. Rahm said that we should be drinking vodka instead of wine,’ Duffy says, to which Heche adds, ‘and we listened, and we are drinking it.’
Duffy then reveals they are using wine to chase down the vodka, before Heche reveals: ‘Today’s been a very unique day.
‘I don’t know what happened, sometimes days just suck and I don’t know if you ever have them [but] some days, those no good, very bad days, and some days days just end up like this.
‘Sometimes days just suck and I don’t know if you ever have them, but you know some days, Mama says just gonna be like this,’ she continues. ‘Some days there’s those no good, very bad days.
‘And I don’t know why some days just end up like this, and things don’t really rock me like that.’
She later revealed how she has had a tough week, explaining how people interrupted her meditating at her apartment. It remains unclear if the podcast was recorded on Friday, or if that is just when it aired.
According to TMZ, despite the alleged drinking on the podcast, Anne Heche was not under the influence of alcohol when she crashed the car.