Anne Heche Taken Off Life Support as Organ Recipients Identified

After being declared legally dead earlier this week, Anne Heche was taken off life-support so the procedure to donate her organs could begin.

By Ashley Joy Parker Aug 14, 2022 11:51 PMTags

Two days after Anne Heche was declared legally dead, the actress was taken off life support.

"Anne Heche has been peacefully taken off life support," a spokesperson for the Six Days Seven Nights star confirmed in a statement to E! News in the evening on Aug 14. 

Heche's family's rep previously told E! News that while she was pronounced legally dead on Aug. 12 at the age of 53, according to California law, her heart was still beating and was on life support in order to allow OneLegacy Foundation enough time to find recipients who would be a match for her organs which she wished to donate.

Earlier in the day on Aug. 14, Heche's rep told E! News in a statement that her medical team was set to move forward with the procedure to remove her organs

"Anne Heche will be taken off life support Sunday, organ recipients have been identified and surgeons are ready to remove and then implant," the statement read. "Anne will be taken off life support after which the procedure will begin."

The statement continued, "Multiple organs will be transplanted, no specifics available on which ones."

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News of Heche's passing comes one week after she was involved in a fiery car crash. On Aug. 5, the Donnie Brasco star was behind the wheel of her Mini Cooper when it collided into a home in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the vehicle was traveling at a high speed, so it "burst into flames and came to rest 30 feet inside the two-story home."  

Isa Foltin/Getty Images for Mediengruppe Klambt

Three days later, Heche's rep told E! News that the actress had slipped into a coma and did not "regain consciousness since shortly after the accident."

After Heche's passing, her ex-husband Coleman "Coley" Laffoon has shared a heartbreaking farewell to the late actress and gave an update on their 20-year-old son, Homer.

"In the wake of Anne's passing, I just want to say a few things. One, I loved her and I miss her, and I'm always going to," he said in a selfie video on Instagram on Aug. 12. "Two, Homer is OK. He's grieving, of course, and it's rough, it's really rough, as probably anybody can imagine. But he's surrounded by his family and he's strong and he's going to be OK."

In addition to Homer, Heche is also a mom to 13-year-old son Atlas, whose father is her ex-partner and Men in Trees co-star James Tupper

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