LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anne Heche is on life support after suffering a brain injury in a fiery crash a week ago and is not expected to survive, a representative said in a statement.
The actor, who is in a coma and in critical condition, remains on life support for possible organ donation, according to a statement released Thursday night on behalf of his family and friends.
Heche, who has been hospitalized at West Hills Hospital’s Grossman Burn Center in North Los Angeles, suffered a “severe anoxic brain injury,” the statement said. This injury is caused by a sustained lack of oxygen to the brain.
“He is not expected to survive,” the statement said. “It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable.”
On the morning of August 5, Heche’s car crashed into a house in a West Los Angeles neighborhood and a fire broke out with the car embedded inside the house.
Earlier Thursday, police said they were investigating Heche for driving under the influence. Detectives with a search warrant took a sample of his blood and found narcotics in his system, LAPD spokesman Jeff Lee said.
Toxicology tests, which can take weeks to complete, must be done to identify the drugs more clearly and to differentiate them from any drugs you may have been given for treatment in the hospital.
Evidence from the crash is still being collected, police said, and will present a case to prosecutors if warranted when the investigation is complete.
A representative for Heche declined to comment on the investigation.
On Tuesday, Heche’s spokeswoman Heather Duffy Boylston said he had been in a coma since the crash, with burns that required surgery and lung injuries that required the use of a ventilator to breathe.
“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 to accept who you love,” Thursday’s statement said. “She will be remembered for her brave honesty and will be greatly missed for her light.”
Heche, 53, was one of Hollywood’s hottest movie stars in the late 1990s, playing opposite actors like Johnny Depp (“Donnie Brasco”) and Harrison Ford (“Six Days, Seven Nights”). In a 2001 memoir, he spoke of his lifelong struggles with mental health.
He recently had recurring roles on the TV series “Chicago PD” and “All Rise,” and in 2020 was a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.”
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