UPDATE June 2, 2010: The details around Gary Coleman’s fall and death are being investigated. What we do know is that he was very, very weak from his dialysis treatment the day of the fall. He had no energy left when he arrived home at 3PM May 26, 2010, and soon fell and hit his head, causing a 1 inch gash.
The 911 tapes released of his wife Shannon Price calling the police reveal that she wasn’t willing to try to help Gary while she waited for the ambulance. She complained that she had a fever and “did want to be traumatized right now.”
When 42-year-old actor Gary Coleman passed away after a traumatic fall at home, his estranged parents, Sue and Willie Coleman, learned of their son’s death through the media.
Sue (67) and Willie (71) have just as many details as the rest of us, and want to know more about the fall that lead Gary’s death. They spoke to People about their questions:
“We’re not angry.We’re just concerned. Did our son fall down the stairs? Did he fall in the bathtub?”
Only Gary’s wife, Shannon Price, knows exactly what happened to Gary prior to his hospitalization. The Colemans don’t blame Shannon, however, for not letting them know more. At the time of Coleman’s death, he had not spoken to his parents in almost 20 years.
Bitter court battles in the late ’80s/ early 90’s tore a vast rift through the Coleman’s relationship with their son. In 1993, 25-year-old Coleman was awarded $1.3 million when a judge ruled that his parents and business adviser Anita De Thomas mismanaged his money and misappropriated his assets to themselves. The Colemans counter-sued Gary for defamation.
Despite this tumultuous past, they wish they had been able to be there for their son at the end of his life, and still want to know more details about the circumstances of his death.
A spokeswoman for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, Janet Frank, said that Coleman had an “accident” at home, and suffered from an intracranial hemorrhage. The official cause of death is still under investigation, but no foul play is currently suspected by the authorities.
