Gary Coleman: ‘Don’t pull the plug’
COLEMAN’S LAST WISH: “DON’T TAKE ME OFF LIFE SUPPORT.” Wired from Mail Online
PROVO, Utah – His ex-wife Shannon Price told doctors to take her ex-husband Gary Coleman off life support. But the Diff’rent Strokes star had allegedly specified that he did not want anyone to pull the plug, according to legal documents obtained by website TMZ. The documents included a health care power of attorney paper and were signed by the actor in 2006. Price, who was seen leaving the court yesterday has filed the documents in an effort to gain control over the disposition of Coleman’s body.
Under the heading ‘Instructions for Health Care’ – Coleman checked the box titled ‘Choice to Prolong Life’ which states; ‘I want my life to be prolonged as long as possible within the limits of generally accepted health care standards.’ The other option ‘Choice Not to Prolong Life’ – was left unchecked. Although Price was divorced from Coleman in 2008, she is listed as his spouse on his newly released death certificate. The certificate lists Coleman’s cause of death as a ‘closed head injury,’ with other significant conditions listed as ‘chronic renal failure’.
The manner of death is recorded as an accident. Coleman died on May 28, age 42, after falling into a coma. An autopsy was carried out last week, but Coleman has not yet been laid to rest. And in another twist to the saga, Anna Gray, who was named executor of a 2005 will signed by Coleman, has requested to see the late star’s body before he is cremated. The request was opposed by Coleman’s ex-wife Shannon Price, who alleges that a handwritten 2007 note makes her the executor of the late star’s estate.
But Judge James Taylor ordered that Diff’rent Strokes actor Gary Coleman’s remains be cremated no sooner than tomorrow afternoon, so Coleman’s ex-girlfriend – who is named in a 2005 will – has enough time to travel from Oregon to Utah to see his body. Coleman’s cremation has been on hold because of legal wrangling over his assets, which include a Utah home valued in property tax records at 315,000 US dollars and a collection of toy trains.
Ex-wife, Shannon, and his former girlfriend and manager, Anna Gray, both contend they are the lawful administrators of his estate.
This story was originally published on Mail Online.