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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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When Did Hayden Panettiere Die?
Hayden Panettiere died in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 16. She was 36.
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How Did Hayden Panettiere Die?
After receiving a 911 call at around 1:51 p.m. on Aug. 16, first responders and emergency medical services arrived at a residence in Greenville and found a woman—later identified as Panettiere—in cardiac arrest, according to a release shared by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office the following day. While "advanced cardiac life support measures" were provided, the release continued, the "resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful" as Panettiere was unresponsive. The actress was pronounced dead at the scene a little after 2:30 p.m. In audio of the emergency dispatch call obtained by CNN and TMZ, EMS responders could be heard discussing an apparent overdose.
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What Was Hayden Panettiere's Cause of Death?
In its Aug. 17 release, the coroner's office confirmed an autopsy was completed and that "no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death" of the Heroes star.
About a month later, Panettiere's official cause of death was revealed.
"The cause of death has been ruled as toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, Alprazolam, Methocarbamol, and Quetiapine," the Greenville County Coroner's Office said in a statement Sept. 22. "The manner of death has been ruled accident."
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Who Was With Hayden Panettiere When She Died?
The Greenville City Police Department noted in its Aug. 17 release that "an acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call," with a redacted police report obtained by E! listing both Brian Hickerson—her on-again, off-again boyfriend since 2018— and his brother Zach Hickerson as the ones to call 911.
Zach later told officers investigating Panettiere's death that she was Brian's girlfriend, according to Greenville City PD's report.
Zach also shared in an Aug. 21 statement to TMZ that Brian gave Panettiere Narcan—an opioid overdose reversal medication—after the pair found the actress unconscious in the apartment she was renting. Zach also said that he and Brian "jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived."
Police noted in an Aug. 16 release that "the preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances" around her death.
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How Did Brian Hickerson and Zach Hickerson React to Hayden Panettiere's Death?
In the police report, an officer noted Zach was "very emotional while EMS were working on" Panettiere, though
"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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What Has Hayden Panettiere's Family Said About Her Death?
After Panettiere died, her father Skip Panettiere told ABC News she was "an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her—and to the millions who watched her onscreen."
Two days later, her mother Lesley Vogel broke her silence.
"This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death," she told NBC News Aug. 18, "and that was Brian Hickerson."
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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