Actress Anne Heche is still in a coma and in critical condition following a fiery automobile accident in the Los Angeles area on Friday, August 5th. A representative for the star provided a statement to Deadline, which paints a bleaker picture for Heche. This update comes only days after Heche’s publicist released a statement calling her “in stable condition.” Heche crashed her car into a home in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles, which caused both her vehicle and the house in question to catch on fire. Deadline states 59 firefighters fought the blaze, which took 65 minutes to put out. Heche reportedly was responsive and communicated after being pulled from the fire, but soon lost consciousness.
“At this time Anne is in extreme critical condition she has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention,” Heche’s rep said in a statement. “She is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident.”
Heche is best known for her Emmy-nominated work on the soap opera Another World, which saw her portraying the characters Vicky Hudson and Marley Love. Her filmography also includes projects like the remake of Psycho, as well as Six Days Seven Nights, Gracie’s Choice, Vanished, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Donnie Brasco. She also voiced Suyin Beifong on the Avatar: The Last Airbender spinoff The Legend of Korra.
This accident comes after Heche previously made headlines in August of 2000 for briefly being admitted into a psychiatric unit, after she entered the home of a complete stranger in the Fresno area while on ecstasy. Heche has been open about her experiences with mental illness in the past, arguing in 2001 that she was “insane” for the first 31 years of her life due to sexual abuse she had suffered as a child from her father, and that she had previously created a fantasy world in her mind to make herself feel safe.
Heche participated in a podcast that was released on Friday that featured her slurring her speech, with some linking her demeanor on the podcast to the crash itself. Sources confirmed to Deadline that the podcast was recorded on Tuesday, three days before the crash.
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