In December 2009, less than a week before Christmas, much-loved actress Brittany Murphy was found unresponsive in her Los Angeles home, aged just 32.
Fifteen years and three days since she was declared deceased by responding officers, however, the star's heartbreaking final words still continue to haunt both her family and fanbase to this day.
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After skyrocketing into the spotlight following her breakthrough role as Tai in the coming-of-age comedy Clueless, Murphy, then just 17, quickly become one of the most sought-after names in 90s Hollywood.
Not only did she go on to bag roles on Broadway for the likes of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, but she was cast alongside Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted, and with Eminem in his gritty biopic 8 Mile.
By the time the noughties rolled around, she'd broken into her romantic comedy era, starring in Uptown Girls opposite Dakota Fanning, and Just Married with Ashton Kutcher - whom she'd also briefly dated.
Not only was she making impressive moves in the professional world at the height of her career, but she was super loved-up with British filmmaker husband Simon Monjack, with the pair having tied the knot in 2007.
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Two years later, Muphy told Access Hollywood that she and Monjack had made plans to move from Los Angeles to New York to start a family, telling the publication on 3 December 2009: "As far as having a New Year's resolution, I'd love to have a child next year."
Tragically, however, just 17 days after giving the interview, Murphy suddenly collapsed in her Hollywood home, having seemingly suffered from a cardiac arrest.
In the weeks prior, however, she'd been experiencing flu-like symptoms, which she was unaware had developed into what then-deputy medical examiner Dr. Lisa Scheinin later described as 'severe' pneumonia.
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Speaking in the 2021 HBO docu-series What Happened, Brittany Murphy?, the celebrity medic recalled her conclusion that this disease - in combination 'multiple drug intoxication' from prescription and over-the-counter medication - had killed the star.
"If she had gotten to a hospital early enough, you can detect pneumonia on the chest X-ray. It's very easy to do," Scheinin explained in the programme. "They could have possibly started treatment. But she would've had a chance."
While she didn't know the extent of her illness, the actress did suspect that something was seriously wrong.
The morning of her death, Murphy had called her mother, Sharon, where she uttered her last known words.
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Struggling to catch her breath on the phone, she is reported to have told her, 'Mom, I'm dying; I love you.'
Sharon rushed to her daughter's home, later telling press that Murphy uttered 'Mommy, I can't catch my breath. Help me', before collapsing.
She was rushed to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in LA, but tragically passed away.
At the time of her death, Murphy also suffered from iron-deficiency anaemia, having had a 3.0 hemoglobin compared to the normal rate of 12 to 15.5.
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Scheinin added of this: "If she had had this test, let's say, a week or two before dying, and she had a result like this, any decent doctor would have her in the ER, hooked up to a transfusion as quick as they possibly could, because this is a life-threatening situation.
"The anemia in itself would have been fatal, even without the pneumonia. The pneumonia was fatal, and then you're adding this to the equation.
"This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back."
Murphy's husband Monjack was found dead at their home just five months later, aged 40, with the coroner later declaring that he'd died from the same combination of illnesses.
Topics: Celebrity, Life, News, Real Life, True Life, US News, Health
Rhianna Benson