Watch: Hayden Panettiere Privately Entered Rehab Weeks Before Her Death
More information about Hayden Panettiere‘s final moments have come to light.
Nearly two months after the Heroes alum died at age 36 as a result of drugs in her system, details from the 911 call placed by her on-again-off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson‘s brother Zach Hickerson reveal what happened before first responders arrived at the South Carolina apartment complex where she was residing.
“I walked in after church to my brother and his girlfriend’s apartment, and he woke up, and his girl,” a frantic Zach said to the dispatcher in the audio, which was obtained by ABC News and CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act request to Greenville County EMS, “she’s unconscious.”
After confirming that Hayden wasn’t breathing, Zach—who, due to South Carolina FOIA laws, was not named in the audio—was instructed to start life-saving measures.
“I’m going to tell you how to do CPR,” the dispatcher said. “We’re going to start with ventilation first. I need you to lay her flat on her back and remove anything from under her head.”
The operator was heard guiding Zach—whose brother was with him at the apartment—as he administered aid.
“We’re going to do this 500 times or until help can arrive, OK?” the operator said. “Start counting now—one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four.”
First responders arrived minutes later, and the Nashville actress was pronounced dead at the scene.
E! News has reached out to the Greenville Police Department and Greenville County EMS for comment. E! News has also submitted a FOIA request to the Greenville County EMS.
Although South Carolina law does not allow the release of personal information in FOIA requests, ABC News noted that the audio corresponded with the publicly released date, address and details of her August death.
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The Greenville County Coroner’s Office confirmed in a September statement shared with E! News that Hayden’s cause of death had been ruled “as toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, Alprazolam, Methocarbamol, and Quetiapine” and was ruled an accident.
The phone call was placed around 1:51 p.m. at her apartment complex on Aug. 16, according to a press release from the coroner’s office. First responders confirmed that she had cardiac arrest and began “life support measures.”
“However, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful,” the office said. “At autopsy, no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death.”
Prior to her expected death, Hayden—mom to 11-year-old daughter Kaya with Wladimir Klitschko—had shared insight into her struggles with addiction, especially amid experiencing postpartum depression.
As she detailed her sobriety journey in her 2026 memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, she wrote that a doctor had warned her, “If I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead in five years.”
For more insight into the actress’ death, read on.
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“Brian did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased.”E! News has reached out to Zach for comment but has not heard back. Meanwhile, Brian’s attorney Sloan Ellis has spoken out.”Hayden’s death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed,” Ellis told E! News Aug. 20. “As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play. Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”And while police told People officers “responded to a call for a welfare check at a home belonging to Brian Hickerson’s family” on Aug. 19, they noted “the call is unrelated to the Hayden Panettiere death investigation and did not require an incident report.”
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While Panettiere—whose brother Jansen died in 2023 at age 28—and her mom had publicly spoken about their estrangement, Vogel remembered her daughter as “an amazingly talented person in so many departments.””I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry—it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry,” she added, “and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.”Additionally, her ex Wladimir Klitschko addressed his “profound shock and grief” he and their daughter Kaya were facing in the wake of Panettiere’s death. The Ukranian boxer further vowed to keep the Nashville alum’s legacy alive in Kaya’s memory.
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