Hayden Panettiere Dies 3 Years After Losing her Brother

This Monday, August 17, Hayden Panettiere died at the age of 36. In 2023, the Heroes star had to face the death of her 28-year-old brother, Jansen, who was also an actor.

Hayden Panettiere’s life was far from a smooth one. Today, news broke of her death at the age of 36. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the tragic death of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Skip Panettiere, told CBS News. “She was an incredible source of light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to everyone who knew her—as well as to the millions of people who watched her on screen.” For the time being, the cause of her death has not been disclosed. A child star, Hayden Panettiere quickly found herself thrust into the spotlight, just like her brother Jansen. He began his career in 2002 in The Stevens’ War, when he was 8 years old.

But 20 years later, his life came to a tragic end. In 2023, he died from complications related to an enlarged heart and a condition affecting the aortic valve. Jansen Panettiere notably appeared in Disney and Nickelodeon television films such as Tiger Cruise, alongside his sister, and The Last Day of Summer. He shared the screen with Hayden Panettiere again in 2012 in The Forger. He also appeared in an episode of The Walking Dead in 2019, the year of his final project, the television film How High 2.

“I Will Never Get Over His Loss”

Hayden Panettiere was deeply devastated by the death of her younger brother. More than a year after the tragic event, the actress agreed to speak to People magazine. “He was my only brother, and it was my job to protect him,” she confided. “When I lost him, I felt like I had lost half of my soul.” Followed by paparazzi during Jansen’s funeral, Hayden Panettiere was left traumatized by the experience. She told People that her agoraphobia, which she had struggled with in the past, had resurfaced. She therefore remained shut inside her home for a long time, her grief taking a toll on her physical health. “I simply ballooned up,” she explained, referring to her stress- and cortisol-related weight gain. “I was afraid to get dressed or leave my house, but I also knew that I had to get out and keep moving, otherwise I would never stop feeling and looking this way,” she explained. “It became a destructive vicious cycle: Do I feel well enough to go out?”

Hayden and Jansen Panettiere at the premiere of the film Bridge to Terabithia. (Los Angeles, February 3, 2007.)

In September 2024, Hayden Panettiere was still trying to learn how to live with the loss.

“When you experience something of such magnitude, you really learn to choose your battles and not let the little things upset you,” she said, adding that after this kind of tragic event, very little can “shake you.” In 2024, she had also stated that she would “always have a broken heart.” “I will never get over it. No matter how many years pass, I will never get over his loss,” she added.

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