Poor Gary Coleman – it seems that even death cannot separate him from drama. The former “Diff’rent Strokes” star was taken off life support last week after falling in his home.
Today, the 911 call by his “wife” (and I put that in quotes – I’ll talk about that in a minute) was released and it almost made me sick to read it.
Shannon Price called 911 after hearing a bang. She told the operator “He just got home, I heard this big bang, I went downstairs. Blood everywhere. I don’t know if he’s okay. I’m not down there right now because I have a fever, if I get stressed out I’m going to faint.”
Price went on to say Coleman had fallen, but she didn’t know what happened. The operator asked her if she could go downstairs to check on Coleman. Price replied “I’ll try, I don’t know, I mean…”
Try? When the operator asked if anyone else was home, Price replied, “No” and said she had been sick. Okay, I know being sick with a fever sucks, but really, this was an emergency situation. Price told the operator “I’ve just been kind of sick. I don’t want to be traumatized right now.” Do any of us really ever want to be traumatized?
Price finally called to Coleman, telling him not to move, but to put pressure on his wound after the operator asked her to do it. She told the operator he was “lethargic” and she needed help quick. Once the operator told her help was on the way, Price said, “I’m sorry, I can’t do it. I can’t. … There’s blood all over and I can’t do anything.”
The operator finally asked Price to give Coleman a towel to put on his injury. Her reply was, “Yeah, I’m just panicked. I don’t know what to do … I just don’t want him to die. I’m freaking out.” She can be heard telling Coleman he needed to put the pressure on his wound and to sit down. Price then told the operator she was “gagging” with blood all over her and just “can’t deal.”
Coleman was taken off life support two days later, but who gave that the okay? According to Coleman’s lawyer, Randy Kester, Price and Coleman had been divorced since August 12, 2008. But, he didn’t know if the two had remarried.
Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where Coleman was taken after the fall, said that the actor had an Advance Health Care Directive that gave Price “permission to make medical decisions on this behalf” regardless as to whether the two were married or not.