Actress Carrie Fisher of “Star Wars” fame was in critical condition Friday after suffering a “cardiac episode” during a flight from London to Los Angeles, according to airline and emergency officials.
Fisher, 60, was rushed to UCLA Medical Center by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics shortly after noon, after her 11-hour flight touched down at LAX.
A source who was not authorized to discuss the incident said the actress was “in a lot of distress onthe flight.”
A statement released by United Airlines said that medical personnel met Flight 935 from London on arrival after the crew reported a passenger was unresponsive.
“Our thoughts are with our customer at this time,” the statement read.
Just prior to arrival, a pilot told the control tower that passengers who were nurses were attending to an “unresponsive” passenger.
“So they’re working on her right now,” the pilot said in a public recording of the conversation on liveatc.net.
According to the Los Angeles Airport Police, officers responded to Terminal 7 around 12:15 p.m. for a call of a female passenger in cardiac arrest. On arrival, they found paramedics performing CPR on the victim, according to Officer Alicia Hernandez.
Todd Fisher, Carrie Fisher’s brother, told CNN that his sister had been stabilized at the hospital and was in an intensive care unit.
“She’s obviously a very tough girl who’s survived many things,” Todd said to KABC-TV. “I encourage everyone to pray for her.”
Her sister, actress Joely Fisher, said on Twitter that she would perform this afternoon at the Laguna Playhouse “then back by your side @carrieffisher Love you Sister Sledge.”
Fisher, who rose to stardom as Princess Leia on “Star Wars,” recently published an autobiography titled “The Princess Diarist,” her eighth book.
She is the daughter of famous Hollywood couple Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.
Fisher, who has written and spoken openly about her struggles in the movie business, is considered Hollywood royalty. She took on her prickly relationship with her mother in the book-to-movie “Postcards from the Edge.” She’s also been outspoken about her mental health issues and the solution she found: radical-sounding electroshock therapy.
News of Fisher’s condition sparked an outpouring of support and sympathy on social media.
Many of her “Star Wars” co-stars wished her well on Twitter, including Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca; Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker; Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO; Dave Prowse, who acted as Darth Vader; and Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian.
LA Times
