(NewsNation) — Actor Anne Heche “is not expected to survive” after a fiery car crash last week left her in a coma, a representative for the family said in a statement released Thursday.
Heche’s car crashed Aug. 5 into a home located on the west side of Los Angeles. The vehicle erupted into flames and firefighters pulled Heche, who was alone, from the car.
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, around 60 firefighters responded to the scene. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Drugs were found in her blood sample taken on the scene, including cocaine, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to NewsNation.
Following the accident, Heche was hospitalized for critical injuries and slipped into a coma. She suffered a “severe anoxic brain injury,” a spokeswoman said in the statement. Heche required mechanical ventilation and had severe burns.
“I think everybody’s now come to the conclusion that this is probably going to be the last day that we have Anne with us,” Rob Shuter, Heche’s former publicist, told NewsNation.
Heche, 53, is being kept on life support to determine if any of her organs can be donated, according to the spokeswoman.
“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 statement read. “She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light.”
Images obtained by TMZ appear to show Heche’s car crashing into a garage and speeding down residential streets. Another image shows what appears to be a liquor bottle in the vehicle.
Minutes before the crash, salon owner Richard Glass told NewsNation that Heche bought a red wig from him. He described Heche as “coherent and polite” and said nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Heche was involved in the crash roughly 21 minutes later.
In her acting career, Heche played in movies with stars including Harrison Ford in “Six Days, Seven Nights” and Johnny Depp in “Donnie Brasco.”
The Ohio native first came on the Hollywood scene when she appeared in the NBC soap opera “Another World” from 1987 to 1991.
More recently, Heche acted on Broadway and in smaller films and TV shows such as “Chicago P.D.” and “All Rise.” In 2020, she competed on “Dancing With the Stars.”
In her personal life, Heche was married to cameraman Coleman Laffoon from 2001 to 2009. They had a son together. She also has a son with actor James Tupper, her co-star in “Men In Trees.”
Heche openly spoke about experiencing an abusive childhood and struggling with her mental health.
“I think people are really complicated and people often in the entertainment business are very complicated too, and it’s a bit of a cliche that these really talented creative people have all these demons,” Shuter said.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page for the woman who lives in the house Heche crashed into has already raised more than $140,000. Neither the woman nor her pets were injured, but the house is a total loss.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.