Hayden Panettiere said she 'never stopped choosing' her daughter Kaya after granting her ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko full custody in 2018. The Heroes actor died on Sunday night, aged 36, with investigators confirming there were 'no signs of foul play.'
Final interview reveals her thoughts on custody decision
Panettiere and Klitschko began dating in 2009, welcoming Kaya Evdokia Klitschko in 2014 before splitting in 2018. In the same year, the Nashville star announced she had made the 'difficult decision' to sign full custody of her daughter, now 11, to her ex after struggling with her mental health and addiction issues.
Panettiere spoke about the choice during her final interview with Dear Momé in May, titled 'Hayden Panettiere Never Stopped Choosing Her Daughter'.
'It wasn't a decision I made lightly, nor was it a decision I even wanted to make,' she said. 'I was going through a really challenging time in my life… I knew I needed to be able to put her first so that I could get the help I needed and be the mom she needed me to be.'
Relationship with daughter and decision not to bring her back
She then opened up about her relationship with Kaya, explaining that they had become closer. 'I love my daughter, and I'm so proud of the young woman she is becoming. I talk to her all the time, and I feel so connected to her. She's like a mini-me,' she continued.
Discussing the prospect of bringing her daughter back, the Scream actor said she would not pull Kaya away from her life in Ukraine. She said: 'By the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair of me to, and selfish of me to, try to pull her out of this life that she had been creating.'
Struggles with mental health and addiction
In the same month, she spoke to Jay Shetty on his podcast about seeking help after struggling with her mental health. 'I have been the one who sought it out, who was saying, "I desperately need help." I know this is going to look terrible, but I am. I cannot live like this anymore.
'The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking. It couldn't be further from the truth.
'It became this horrible cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse, and just me trying to find my way back.'
Custody battle and postpartum depression
Panettiere explained to Red Table Talk in 2015 that she was 'heartbroken' to sign over custody, and that it was not entirely her decision. The actor said Kaya was visiting her father in Ukraine like any other time while she underwent treatment for her addiction to alcohol and drugs.
'I was gonna go work on myself and I was gonna get better, and when I got better that things could change and she could come to me and I could have my time with her,' she began. 'But that didn't happen. I thought she was going over to visit him like she always did.
'[Kaya] would go back and forth from me in Nashville and Ukraine, and then once she was over there, it was immediately "I want full custody of her," which was a shock to me.'
Panettiere eventually signed custody over to Klitschko, which she described as 'the most heartbreaking thing she's ever, ever had to do in her life.'
Following Kaya's birth in 2014, Panettiere spoke candidly about struggling with postpartum depression as well as addiction. In her interview with Momé, she opened up about her traumatic birth and blood loss, as well as how she 'felt nothing' when she was handed her daughter after receiving surgery.
Speaking on US morning talk show Live with Kelly and Michael in 2015, she said: 'When they tell you about postpartum depression, you think about, "Okay, I feel negative feelings towards my child, I want to injure my child, I want to hurt my child".
'I've never ever had those feelings and some women do, but you don't realise what broad of a spectrum you can really experience that on, and it's something, I think, that needs to be talked about and women need to know that they're not alone.
'There's a lot of misunderstanding and I feel like there's a lot of people out there who think that it's not real, that it's not true, that it's something that's made up in their mind.'
Postpartum depression symptoms and death investigation
Postpartum depression affects approximately one in seven women and can begin while you're pregnant, soon after birth, or up to a year after your baby is born. Symptoms include low mood, finding it hard to enjoy anything, feeling hopeless or that you cannot cope, feeling guilty or worthless, or that you're a bad parent, feeling fearful, anxious, or worrying all the time, feeling restless or irritable, difficulty sleeping, even when you get time to rest, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, difficult feelings about or difficulty bonding with your baby, and thoughts of suicide, harming yourself or your baby.
The Greenville County Coroner's Office confirmed to the BBC that emergency services were called to an address on Sunday for a woman in cardiac arrest. They identified the woman as Panettiere and said that resuscitation efforts 'were unsuccessful', with epinephrine reportedly used at the scene.
'An autopsy was completed today,' the statement from the coroner said. 'At autopsy no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death. The cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies.'
