FLASHBACK: Hayden Panettiere Discusses Shaking Off the ‘Darkness’ in Her Life, Says She Has ‘A Lot More Life to Live’

Actress Hayden Panettiere said in a podcast that she had “a lot more life to live” just months before her sudden death on Sunday.

News of the 36-year-old’s death was reported late Sunday night. Her father, Skip Panettiere, described her as “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.”

In a May episode of Jay Shetty’s podcast On Purpose, Panettiere talked about her past struggles with addiction and fame as a child star. She touched on those topics in greater detail in her memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning. During the conversation, Panettiere explained how speaking her truth in the book helped her shake off “darkness,” and she appeared optimistic about the next chapter of her life.

“I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity,” Panettiere said. “And that means I’ve closed one door and another door is opened, and I can feel it opened, and I can feel all the possibilities, all the exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”

According to additional reporting from TMZ, Panettiere was pronounced dead in her South Carolina apartment earlier that afternoon. Police sources told TMZ that Narcan was found in Panettiere’s apartment, and first responders used the word “overdose” at the scene.

TMZ added:

We’re also told epinephrine was used on the scene, and that would track with the initial 911 call being for a woman in cardiac arrest. Epinephrine, aka adrenaline, is commonly used to resuscitate patients in cardiac arrest.

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