Hayden Panettiere had planned to visit her daughter, Kaya, in Ukraine before her tragic death at the age of 36 on Sunday afternoon.
“I last saw her a few months ago,” the “Heroes” alum’s hairstylist and good friend Erick Orellana exclusively told Page Six Monday.
“She was talking about how she wanted to take a vacation, and that she wanted to go and see her daughter. Her daughter was always her absolute priority. She loved her so much.”
Orellana, who has worked with Panettiere for three years, emphasized that the latter “loved spending time” with Kaya, 11, and would always show off the pre-teen’s photos and tell him stories about her.
“Her daughter was the absolute light of her life,” the stylist continued. “She lit up when she spoke about her. Everything she did revolved around her.”
Speaking about Panettiere’s heartbreaking passing, Orellana added, “I can’t imagine that this is anything but accidental because she just loved her daughter and would never have left her.”
Kaya has lived in Ukraine with her father, who is Panettiere’s ex-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko, since 2018, when the “Scream 4” star gave up custody amid her battle with postpartum depression and addiction.
The “Ice Princess” star had maintained an amicable relationship with Klitschko, whom she dated from 2009 to 2018. She also recently gushed over her and Kaya’s “really intense, incredible bond” leading up to her death.
“I go travel as much as I can. I see her. I do spend a lot of time on FaceTime with her, but we talk about really deep things,” she told Jay Shetty on the “On Purpose” podcastin May.
During the same episode, Hayden denied rumors that she abandoned her daughter, saying, “I mean, the idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking. Couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“That was incredibly difficult,” she continued. “The fact that my child wasn’t going to be with me all day, every day was … you can’t put words to it. It’s just a really intense feeling or multiple feelings really layered together.”
Additionally, Orellana told Page Six that Panettiere was “super happy” leading up to her death and was “so positive.”
“She had really good friends here in LA. It was a small group of people, but they were also supportive of her,” he explained. “And she loved spending time with them.”
The beauty guru described Panettiere as a “kind and encouraging friend,” saying, “she was always so positive, and always so happy when a friend had good news.”
“She would always want to celebrate her friends in every single way she could,” he emotionally shared. “She laughed a lot. She had the most infectious energy.”
Similar to others, Orellana explained he was “in complete and utter shock” over the actress’s unexpected passing.
Hayden’s father, Skip Panettiere, confirmed her death to Page Six via a statement on Sunday, writing, “She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her on-screen. We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Earlier in the day, paramedics had responded to a South Carolina apartmentregarding a call about an “unidentified female” in “cardiac arrest,” per a 911 dispatch audio obtained by Page Six.
According to the audio, “CPR [was] in progress” for an apparent “overdose,” but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
TMZ reported that Narcan, which is used to reverse an opioid overdose, was found at the scene, though it’s unclear if Hayden had received the dose.
The day before her death, the “I Love You, Beth Cooper” star had flown to the south from Los Angeles with her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson.
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