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 spokeswoman said in a statement. The actress, who is in a coma and in critical condition, is on life support for a possible organ donation, according to a statement released Thursday night on behalf of her family and friends. Heche, who is being treated at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital north of Los Angeles, suffered “severe anoxic brain injury,” the statement said. Such an injury is caused by prolonged 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 see if any are viable.” On the morning of August 5, Hetse’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 her blood and found drugs in her system, LAPD spokesman Officer Jeff Lee said. Toxicology tests, which can take weeks to complete, must be done to identify the drugs more clearly and differentiate them from any drugs she may have been given for treatment in the hospital. Evidence from the crash is still being gathered, police said, and will present a case to prosecutors if warranted when the investigation is complete. A spokesman for Heche declined to comment on the investigation. On Tuesday, Heche’s spokeswoman Heather Duffy Boylston said she had been in a coma ever since the accident, with burns that required surgery and lung injuries that required her to use 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 on accepting what you love “, Thursday’s statement said. “She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and greatly missed for her light.” Heche, 53, was among Hollywood’s most prominent movie stars in the late 1990s, playing opposite actors such as Johnny Depp (“Donnie Brasco”) and Harrison Ford (“Six Days, Seven Nights”). In a 2001 memoir, she opened up about her lifelong struggles with mental health. She recently had recurring roles on the network’s TV series “Chicago PD” and “All Rise” and in 2020 was a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.”
