NEWSGary Coleman's Wife Shannon Explains, "I Didn't Know What to Do"
June 7 2010, Published 5:49 a.m. ET
Gary Coleman's death has sparked many questions and his wiife Shannon Price has sat down with Entertainment Tonight in an attempt to answer all of them.
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Despite past problems and divorce papers, Shannon tells Entertainment Tonight she and Gary were back together.
"Gary and I, we had some disagreements on things and we didn't think things through completely all the time," she says in the interview airing tonight. "We had rash decisions and when we both filed and everything went through, we decided that's not what we wanted. So, we reconciled and we were actually going to renew our vows very soon."
Perhaps the most talked about events of Gary's death was the 911 call Shannon made herself.
"I know a lot of the rumors that are out there right now and, you know, nobody else would know what it was like to be in that situation until you're in that situation," Shannons explains of her 911 call. "A lot of people didn't think I was there for him and so I would definitely have tried to fix what I had said in the call."
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According to Shannon, Gary went downstairs to make her something to eat but then she heard a smack and ran down after him.
"I was frantically panic stricken because I didn't know what to do," she explains. "I didn't know what the extent of the damage was. So, I ran back upstairs to grab the phone to call 911 and then he was starting to wake up."
In the call, Shannon tells the dispatcher she has seizures and can't stand the sight of blood so she can't go back downstairs to check on Gary.
"I was upstairs in the bed. You know I wasn't feeling very well myself that day," she says. "So, you know, I just asked Gary if he could go downstairs and I wasn't anywhere near him."
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So as to whether Shannon had something to do with his injury, she says "absolutely not" and the rumors that she did really hurt.
"You know it does for the fact that people think that I would've killed him or that I would've hurt him intentionally," Shannon says. "I would take my own life before I would do anything to him ... I mean I would harm myself before I would ever hurt him."
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Shannon says she had a directive Gary signed giving her the authority to make medical decisions.
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Why did she decide to take him off life support?
"Because the doctors advised me that he wasn't going to make it. His heart was giving out; it was going to stop regardless," she explains. "It was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make in my entire life. Seeing Gary in that circumstance…. it was best for him to go and not suffer. He was already a vegetable." She goes on to say, "He was gone immediately. When they took him off, his heart rate went down to 60 and then when they turned the machines off he was gone that quick."
"He said, 'I love you and my head hurts.' Those were the last words he said to me because he was in a lot of pain," she reveals.
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And Shannon also explains that Gary was not broke when he died.
"We definitely had financial struggles but we were not broke," Shannon explains adding it is still unknown who will take over his estate. "He wanted me to have everything."
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"His body right now is just at a mortuary until we can get this legal matter situated," Shannon explains. "Gary didn't want a funeral and he didn't want a viewing. He didn't want people to see him that way. So, like I said, Gary is my best interest right now so I'm going to do what he wants."
For more of Shannon's interview, tune in to Entertainment Tonight Monday, June 7!
