Lucy Devine
The world was saddened when much-loved actress Brittany Murphy passed away in 2009.
The 32-year-old was found unresponsive in her Los Angeles home, after seemingly suffering from a cardiac arrest.
Murphy had shot to fame in 1995, aged just 17, following her breakthrough role in Clueless, where she played Tai.
She then went on to secure roles on Broadway, before being cast in Girl, Interrupted alongside Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder.
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She also starred alongside Eminem in 8 Mile, and went on to play Sarah in Just Married alongside Ashton Kutcher.
By 2006, Murphy was loved-up with British filmmaker husband Simon Monjack, with the pair having tied the knot in 2007.
Two years later, Muphy told Access Hollywood that she and Monjack had made plans 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, just over two weeks later, Murphy was dead.
Just weeks before her death, Murphy had been experiencing flu-like symptoms, which - unbeknownst to her - had developed into pneumonia, said then-deputy medical examiner Dr. Lisa Scheinin.
Speaking in the 2021 HBO docu-series What Happened, Brittany Murphy?, Scheinin recalled her conclusion that this disease - in combination with 'multiple drug intoxication' from prescription and over-the-counter medication - was responsible for Murphy's death.
"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 said.
"They could have possibly started treatment. But she would've had a chance."
The morning of her death, Murphy had called her mother, Sharon, where she uttered her last known words.
Struggling to catch her breath on the phone, she is reported to have told her, 'Mom, I'm dying; I love you.'
Sharon later told press that Murphy uttered 'Mommy, I can't catch my breath. Help me'.
She collapsed and was rushed to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in LA.
Murphy was also suffering from iron-deficiency anaemia at the time of her death, having had a 3.0 hemoglobin compared to the normal rate of 12 to 15.5, which is believed to have contributed.
"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," Dr. Scheinin said.
"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."
Adding to the tragic events. Murphy's husband Monjack was found dead at their home just five months after, aged 40.
The coroner later declared that he'd died from the same cause.