Hayden Panettiere Opens Up About the Death of Her Brother and Her Own Personal Struggles
On Wednesday morning, the 35-year-old actress spoke in a television interview about her younger brother Jansen Panettiere and how his death has affected her over the past year. She spoke to People, detailing her grief, struggle and attempts of getting over the tragedy but never actually getting there.
Her Brother’s Death Felt Like Her Death
On February 19, 2023, Hayden’s young brother Jansen tragically passed from an undiagnosed heart condition known as cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) and complications in his aortic valve. Referring to her brother, Hayden said, “He was my only sibling and I felt that I had to protect him. The bypass of the scar between our love was painful “I nearly lost you again” when I knew inside that it was nothing more than my head re-repeating a Drummers-pounding Bitter End— And losing him felt like half a soul or did it split in two.
She was feeling such grief at the time, which led to some surprising bodily responses. “A few days went by, and I just ballooned out,” she said about that time, adding it was the stress and rise in her cortisol. That, she said, along with the constant paparazzi attention, exacerbated her mental health and brought on a new bout of agoraphobia.
How Grief Affects Body Image
In the article, Hayden talked about how her body changes following pregnancy and intrusive paparazzi photos from her brother’s funeral crushed her self-respect. ‘But then I couldn’t get the confidence to put some clothes on and leave the house little agoraphobia lady was back again (she’s been at my door plenty of times before but this visit was too long),’ she confessed.
Hayden knew that even if she was still hurting, she had to keep going. It was a vicious cycle of, ‘Am I good enough to go out? ‘ ” she said.
Regaining Confidence Through Fitness and Community
Hayden ultimately chose to go back to work, which was a big turning point for her. Her publicist, she adds, also suggested she work with a trainer that ended being therapeutic for her in other ways too. “Not only was my body responding to the new, healthier foods I was putting in but it was also responding to the stress and the high expectations I had always held myself to.
But while Panettiere is enthusiastic about her new movie, Amber Alert, she doesn’t expect to ever get over the loss of her brother. My heart will always ache. He answered me, “I will never recover from his death and as the years go on I wont ever do.”
Sudden Death of Jansen Panettiere and Medical Aspects
His family says Jansen Panettiere, 28,S died of cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart and the aortic valve changes. Dissecting aortic aneurysm is the not actually be a disease but rather from what could be due to heart damage or disease condition
“His soul was visible in his eyes and the twinkle of charm that came with his smile,” read the family’s official statement. Her parents’ joint statement said they were devastated by her death, thanked the public for their overwhelming support and asked to be left alone privately to grieve.
Jansen instead went on to have a successful acting career that saw him in films like Tiger Cruise and Racing Stripes, heard in Ice Age: The Meltdown, and become a recognizable name thanks to AMC’s The Walking Dead.
In Response to Controversy Surrounding the Recent Interview
Fans recently expressed concern over Hayden’s speech patterns during a People interview about Annabelle, which caused widespread speculation of health issues for the star. Hayden hit back on Instagram, however. Her dog had urgent surgery the day before she was interviewed and did not sleep for two days, and it felt like he was physically crushed.
I feel compelled to “discuss it on a platform where [sic] I will not be ridiculed for how even put that sentence collectively. Panettiere added that the interview came after an eight-hour photoshoot and it was only after her publicist realized she was ghosting out were they stopped.
While the subject matter was extremely emotional, Hayden said that People contacted her to let her know the interview “was incredibly moving and real,” and no re-shoot was required. She also defended her right to keep details about the treatment of her personal health undisclosed, writing that “I’m on medications [sic] that make my vision quite blurry.”
Strength and Resiliency in the Face of Moving On.
After facing the grief and working through a life of changing circumstance since her brother’s death, Hayden Panettiere is looking for other things to focus on as she persists onward through an acting career. She wishes to release her new film soon; yet acknowledges the grief of losing him will last a lifetime.
Hayden is doing just that by demonstrating how grief presents itself in ways unique to person, and she’s urging others not to be so quick to judge. The way she goes onward despite facing a tragedy is life with as much of his time as possible.