Daveigh Chase was found in the back seat of a car on June 4. She was hospitalized that day and died on June 16. The Los Angeles Medical Examiner confirmed those details to Us Weekly on Tuesday, November 10, nearly five months after the actress passed away at 35.
Daveigh Chase Found in Vehicle Days Before Passing
According to the medical examiner’s investigation report obtained by Us Weekly, Chase complained of headache, weakness, confusion and pain in her right thumb when she was found. A meth pipe was nearby, the report noted.
Paramedics took her by ambulance to Los Angeles General Medical Center, Just Jared reported, citing Entertainment Weekly.
Daveigh Chase played Samara Morgan in The Ring. She voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch and Chihiro in the English version of Spirited Away. Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko was her role too. So was a starring part in the HBO series Big Love.
Chase’s Health Declined Due to Advanced HIV/AIDS
Doctors admitted her with advanced HIV/AIDS with wasting, cryptococcus without meningitis, MRSA and an infection in her right thumb, per the report. E! Online explained that wasting means losing at least 10 percent of body weight without trying, and that cryptococcus is a fungal infection that hits people with weakened immune systems harder.
Toxicology screenings came back positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl. The report described a “history of advanced and untreated HIV/AIDS and drug use.”
Her health declined in the hospital until June 16. Us Weekly reported that the cause of death was AIDS, with chronic polysubstance use listed among other significant conditions. The manner of death was listed as natural.
Roy Hernandez Launches GoFundMe to Support Her Health Struggles
Roy Hernandez had been asking strangers for help before any of this was public. Shortly before her passing, Chase’s boyfriend set up a GoFundMe and wrote about what she was facing.
He told donors that Daveigh Chase had recently been diagnosed with meningitis and was fighting several serious blood infections. He wrote that doctors had told him she may not have much time left. He described a difficult childhood, a painful falling out with her family, and being bullied while she tried to find safety in downtown L.A.
On June 17, Hernandez confirmed her passing to TMZ. She had passed away the day before, he said, after meningitis and a blood infection that led to sepsis. The medical examiner’s report, released months later, lists cryptococcus without meningitis.
A Deep Bond: Hernandez Reflects on Their Relationship
Hernandez opened the fundraiser with a single line about her. She “has always been a light in my life,” he wrote, per Us Weekly.
He did not write about her career first. He mentioned Lilo & Stitch, Spirited Away and Donnie Darko almost in passing, as the version of her other people knew. The rest of what he wrote was about the version he knew. He said that when they met, he promised to protect her and give her the love and comfort she deserved. Together, he wrote, they found moments of happiness and hope.
Promises like that are easy to make at the start and hard to keep at the end. Hernandez was making his in public, to strangers, while she was critically ill. Asking for money for someone you love is its own kind of exposure. He told everyone who clicked the link that she was in trouble and that he could not fix it alone.
Us Weekly reported that he wrote all she ever wanted was a place where they could live together.
Sources: Us Weekly, E! Online, Just Jared
