Anne Heche - 53 - dies after fiery car crash in Los Angeles August 5 2022

[BeginnerSleuther]

I know you are correct. But Anne's rep did initially say she was on a vent for a pulmonary injury. Of course, whether that was true or not, things can go downhill for anyone at any time. What I think was confusing-- or at least it was to me-- is that it was announced SO very quickly that she was expected to recover. After a wreck like that and fire, hearing that announcement so early was surprising to me. The eventual outcome wasn't, unfortunately, but it felt more unexpected given the early prognosis.
JMO

This is just a guess based on my medical knowledge. I think what likely happened is that they did not believe she was so injured that she couldn't recover. I know that sounds weird given how long it took to extinguish the fire, but if the early reports were accurate, I think she likely seemed not to be as injured as she was, at least on the outside. Then something else happened. This other thing could have been her blood clotting leading to a heart attack or stroke or some other cause of her heart stopping or even an internal organ injury they didn't discover initially. Once that happened, her prognosis took a major hit.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Can you say what today’s technologies are that are used to determine and verify brain death? IOW…… CT scans, brain scans, MRI’s…, or anything new?
And, Are they 100% fool proof? TIA. And thank you so much for weighing in here!

So brain dead is a clinical diagnosis. You actually don't need anything else beyond the clinical examination by someone qualified to make it.

The brain stem (the portion at the bottom of the brain that connects the brain and the spinal cord) contains nerves that are called cranial nerves. There are 12 cranial nerves and they are responsible for things like hearing, seeing, feeling touch, motion of your eyes, movement of the tongue, gag reflex, etc. When someone can't breathe on their own or has slipped into a coma that was not medically induced, ruling out brain death has to be part of your examination. In some states, it has to be a neurologist who makes the call. In other states, it can be any physician. Anyway, the way it's done is by testing the brain stem reflexes (those 12 nerves). For example, they'll shine a light in the eyes. If the reflex that causes the pupils to react to light isn't working, then that cranial nerve is not functioning. Then they'll go to movement of the eyes, they'll then touch the cornea to provoke reflex, they'll check the gag reflex and try to induce cough, they'll check breathing to see if they can breathe on their own without ventilation. There are many more. If none of this works, then it's pretty obvious the brain is no longer working.

If there's any doubt with regard to brain injury vs brain death, there are other tests that can be done. These include looking at blood flow in the brain and/or looking at the electrical activity of the brain.

The death of the brain is incompatible with life.

 

[Luna20]

What a load of information. Guess I had not followed all the ups and downs in her life........ but it truly is a story of so many themes... I think mental illness takes the main stage. I think in time, we are going to hear more about a mental breakdown that was building in the weeks before her death.

It’s awful what she endured from her father. She definitely had on going trauma and most likely had PTSD long before she sought counseling. That’s a lot to heal from and the numbing behaviour is understanding. I wonder if her mother will give a public statement.

 

[Luna20]

I had not seen this until last night

At the .22 mark ( near beginning) :
They show a view of her on the gurney from the ground.
To me she is looking upward & trying to get off the gurney (her left) Perhaps she could not see or was in shock as the Doc on here has mentioned.

MOO

This is the best video I’ve seen so far. She looks like she flailing in shock. She had been sitting in the car for a long time so I can imagine she must of felt shock by the time she was released from the wreckage.

I didn’t know her car was airborne. What a tragic way to go for a person who suffered so much already.

 

[LaborDayRN]

I agree. Your comment reminds me of Portia’s plea to Shylock to show mercy (versus strict justice) to Antonio in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” (Act 4, scene 1), which I memorized when I was a sophomore in high school many eons ago. I can still recite the first six lines.

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptered sway.
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God Himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.

You brought back memories for me. My daughter played Portia in a high school play. Thank you for that.

 

[Luna20]

It’s creepy. Just the Mother and one daughter living.

 

[Argonaut]

Could the accidental ingestion of fentanyl lead to Anne's strange behavior?

 

[Lilibet]

You brought back memories for me. My daughter played Portia in a high school play. Thank you for that.

OT—What a great role for your daughter!

 

[Lillymac]

Could the accidental ingestion of fentanyl lead to Anne's strange behavior?

I had read she had fentanyl in her system, but they did not know if it was part of her medications or not. Is it now being reported as accidental?

 

[MachinaCollecta]

Woman who lived in house Anne Heche crashed into reacts to her death

Lynne Mishele, the woman who narrowly escaped death after Anne Heche's car plowed into her house and destroyed her home gave a heartfelt message to the late actress' family and friends.

www.dailymail.co.uk

This is true class from someone who has lost so much but still found the decency to comment compassionately and with respect. I’m so glad the crowdfunding will give her a shot at building a new life, although it can’t give her back the precious items she’s lost. Thankfully she and her doggos are safe and well.

 

[DeDee]

This is just a guess based on my medical knowledge. I think what likely happened is that they did not believe she was so injured that she couldn't recover. I know that sounds weird given how long it took to extinguish the fire, but if the early reports were accurate, I think she likely seemed not to be as injured as she was, at least on the outside. Then something else happened. This other thing could have been her blood clotting leading to a heart attack or stroke or some other cause of her heart stopping or even an internal organ injury they didn't discover initially. Once that happened, her prognosis took a major hit.

Anne had surgery on Tuesday. I was unable to find what type operation she had. We were never told what percentage of her body was covered in burns or what degree the burns were.

Do you have an opinion on the type procedure that may have been performed?

Anne Heche in critical condition, on ventilator after crash

 

[DeDee]

Refind Distillery supplied Anne and her podcast co-host with free vodka. Alcohol is a depressant. It's no wonder she felt the need for something to counteract against it. I have a friend who is in memory care due to developing wet brain, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, from drenching her brain in vodka. As a young mother with two babies, her Naval Officer husband was heading to the golf course. His convertible topped the hill and on the other side, there was a slow moving truck with a ladder sticking out of the back of it that decapitated him. She had two sisters. Both lost their husbands in a similar fashion: freak accidents. Through the years, I think she drank to forget the pain. Now, she doesn't remember that she drank or any reasons that may have led to it. She appears to be happy when I visit on her birthdays.

Re:Find Distillery Handcrafted Spirits Online Store

This DM article is a bit long but incredibly interesting. I had to read every word. There are numerous sensitive photos of the crash site. A crane lifted Anne out of the wreckage. There are lovely photos of Anne from her acting career. I shall choose to remember her as a funny, charming, pretty lady who loved her friends and her handsome sons. I hope their fathers are loving, supportive men to her boys and have an integral part in their lives.

Her death was so unnecessary. Wasn't it Dr Drew who said she wasn't suicidal; she was an addict? At the time, the news was claiming she had fentanyl in her system. He opined she fell asleep while driving or maybe he used the words: nodded off. I studied the slowed version of the Ring footage. Both hands are gripping the steering wheel. Her head is barely visible.

Her sick father gave her herpes as an infant. Her mother had difficulties changing her diapers due to the rashes and sores from herpes. She lived in fear that she'd die of AIDS as her father had. Her mother never apologized for allowing his pedophilic ways with her.

Sometimes friends are better to us than our own family members.

Anne Heche's final moments: How her deadly crash unfolded hour by hour

 

[Warwick7]

This is true class from someone who has lost so much but still found the decency to comment compassionately and with respect. I’m so glad the crowdfunding will give her a shot at building a new life, although it can’t give her back the precious items she’s lost. Thankfully she and her doggos are safe and well.

There are still beautiful people...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

https://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/anne-heche-1969-2022-longtime-movie-and-tv-star//

Anne Heche (1969–2022), longtime movie and TV star​

 

[BeachSky]

After reading this article
I think of that saying:
If a bird and a fish fell in love
Where would they live ?

Possibly she was always searching (in the act of constantly moving on) for that perfect place in each special person she came across.

Anne Heche’s dating history: Her boyfriends, girlfriend and ex-husband

From Ellen DeGeneres to Coleman Laffoon and Steve Martin to James Tupper, here is a list of everyone Anne Heche has been in a relationship with.

pagesix.com

May she be at peace now
MOO

 

[LaborDayRN]

DBM

 

[ilovewings]

Refind Distillery supplied Anne and her podcast co-host with free vodka. Alcohol is a depressant. It's no wonder she felt the need for something to counteract against it. I have a friend who is in memory care due to developing wet brain, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, from drenching her brain in vodka. As a young mother with two babies, her Naval Officer husband was heading to the golf course. His convertible topped the hill and on the other side, there was a slow moving truck with a ladder sticking out of the back of it that decapitated him. She had two sisters. Both lost their husbands in a similar fashion: freak accidents. Through the years, I think she drank to forget the pain. Now, she doesn't remember that she drank or any reasons that may have led to it. She appears to be happy when I visit on her birthdays.

Re:Find Distillery Handcrafted Spirits Online Store

This DM article is a bit long but incredibly interesting. I had to read every word. There are numerous sensitive photos of the crash site. A crane lifted Anne out of the wreckage. There are lovely photos of Anne from her acting career. I shall choose to remember her as a funny, charming, pretty lady who loved her friends and her handsome sons. I hope their fathers are loving, supportive men to her boys and have an integral part in their lives.

Her death was so unnecessary. Wasn't it Dr Drew who said she wasn't suicidal; she was an addict? At the time, the news was claiming she had fentanyl in her system. He opined she fell asleep while driving or maybe he used the words: nodded off. I studied the slowed version of the Ring footage. Both hands are gripping the steering wheel. Her head is barely visible.

Her sick father gave her herpes as an infant. Her mother had difficulties changing her diapers due to the rashes and sores from herpes. She lived in fear that she'd die of AIDS as her father had. Her mother never apologized for allowing his pedophilic ways with her.

Sometimes friends are better to us than our own family members.

Anne Heche's final moments: How her deadly crash unfolded hour by hour

I stopped listening to Drew ten years ago: just sayin'

 

[Anxala]

If she just happened to be in the path of the car, we'd be looking at Heche very differently today.

But she wasn't, and I don't understand your need to throw shade at the dead here? Particularly inclusive shade, as if you're speaking on behalf of others?

Lynne Mishele is so admirable. Despite the dreadful trauma and loss she's experienced, her natural instinct was still to empathise with and express condolences and compassion for a life lost in such grim circumstances and for those Anne Heche has left behind.

She is grace under pressure personified. <3

Take a leaf out of her good book, maybe?

 

[Breezie]

View attachment 359555
It’s creepy. Just the Mother and one daughter living.

It is creepy although she was in her fifties. It isn’t uncommon for someone in their fifties to have only one or two surviving immediate family members. Anne was the youngest of the Heche children. It is less common for a mother to have lost all but one of her children.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Anne had surgery on Tuesday. I was unable to find what type operation she had. We were never told what percentage of her body was covered in burns or what degree the burns were.

Do you have an opinion on the type procedure that may have been performed?

Anne Heche in critical condition, on ventilator after crash

Not really, unfortunately. It could have been for an internal injury or bleeding. Without an exhaustive list of her injuries, it's impossible to say. I do wonder if maybe it was when she was on the operating table that she may have coded and suffered the anoxic brain injury. Just speculation on my part. Surgery after such trauma is very difficult due to what we call hemodynamics (blood, circulation, vitals). Lots to consider.