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Gary Coleman 911 Call From Ex-Wife Gives Glimpse Of Actor's End

Coleman and Shannon Price divorced in 2008, though she was with him when he fell.

It's still unknown what happened in the moments before former child actor [article id="1640330"]Gary Coleman suffered a fatal head injury[/article], but the details of the frantic 911 call from his [article id="1640395"]ex-wife Shannon Price[/article] are providing a brief glimpse into the chaotic final days of the "Diff'rent Strokes" star.

Coleman, 42, died on Friday of a brain hemorrhage after being rushed to a Utah hospital two days earlier following a fall at home. According to People magazine, Price, 24, who, it has since been revealed, divorced Coleman in 2008, initially resisted helping her estranged spouse.

In the call, Price tells a 911 operator that Coleman fell while preparing her dinner on the evening of May 26 in their Santaquin, Utah, home. "He just got home, I heard this big bang, I went downstairs. Blood everywhere," she said in the call. "I don't know if he's OK. I'm not down there right now because I have seizures, if I get stressed out I'm going to seize."

Price then described the scene, saying Coleman's head was bloody and that there was blood all over the floor. "I don't know what happened," she said, prompting the operator to ask if Price could go down and check on Coleman. "I'll try, I don't know, I mean." The operator asked if someone else could go check on Coleman and Price said there wasn't. "I've just been kind of sick," she said. "I don't want to be traumatized right now." She then yelled down to Coleman, asking if he was OK and telling him not to move.

When the operator asked Price to tell Coleman to put pressure on his wound, Price reported back that the actor was lethargic. "I can't really help him," she said. "I just need help quick. ... I just can't be here with the blood. ... I'm sorry, I can't do it. I can't. ... There's blood all over and I can't do anything." Later in the call, Price added that she wasn't able to drive Coleman to the hospital because she'd been sick and feared having a seizure.

As her panicked state increased, Price followed the operator's advice and handed Coleman a towel to put pressure on the wound, telling the 911 staffer that the situation was stressing her out. "Yeah, I'm just panicked," she said. "I don't know what to do ... I just don't want him to die. I'm freaking out." A short time later, she shouted for Coleman to sit down while applying the pressure to his head.

An official cause of death has not yet been determined, but Coleman was taken off life support two days later after doctors determined that he'd suffered a critical brain hemorrhage. A [article id="1640539"]funeral is expected to take place this weekend in Utah[/article], though details about the service have not yet been released.

In the meantime, a controversy has arisen over the actor's final hours, after Coleman's lawyer, Randy Kester, told UsMagazine.com that he questioned whether Price had the authority to make the decision to remove Coleman from life support since the couple were no longer married.

"We had no indication that the information Shannon gave us was false," a rep for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where Coleman was treated, told "Entertainment Tonight." "She portrayed herself as his wife."

Kester said he was the attorney for the August 12, 2008, divorce proceedings, which were kept secret until the papers were dug up this week by "ET." If they were remarried -- which would entitle Price to make such medical decisions -- Kester said he was not aware of it. According to TMZ, Coleman had signed an "Advanced Health Care Directive" that authorized Price to make medical decisions on his behalf.

The couple met on the 2006 set of the movie "Church Ball" and married in 2007. Kester described their recent relationship as "on-again, off-again." At press time, there didn't appear to be a valid will for Coleman, setting up a potentially ugly battle between Price and Coleman's estranged adoptive parents, Sue and Willie Coleman.

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