Hayden Panettiere woke up one morning unable to feel anything from the waist down.
She told the story herself, weeks before she died, in an interview with Women’s Health that sounds different today. It was almost a year like that. Constant tingling, legs that sometimes would not respond, and no doctor able to give her a diagnosis. In March, she was photographed with crutches at Los Angeles airport, leaning on her partner Brian Hickerson. Her hairstylist and close friend, Erick Orellana, later confirmed to Page Six that the back pain had been “really severe”, to the point that at one point “she struggled to move her legs”.
The 36-year-old actress appeared to be recovering in recent weeks, according to Orellana. On August 16, 2026, she was found unconscious in an Airbnb at Judson Mill Lofts, Greenville, South Carolina. First responders tried unsuccessfully to revive her. Her father confirmed her death and asked for privacy for the family. Police are investigating the circumstances, with no signs of a crime so far, while the medical mystery that affected her for months remains unresolved.