Hayden Panettiere’s comments about hope, recovery and motherhood in final interview gain attention

Hayden Panettiere spoke about recovery, motherhood and her hopes for the future in one of her final interviews before her death aged 36.

The Heroes star spoke to Jay Shetty in May while promoting her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. During the interview, Panettiere reflected on years of personal struggles and said she felt ready to begin a new chapter.

“I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity,” Panettiere said.

“I’ve closed one door and another door is opened … I can feel all the exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”

In a separate interview with parenting outlet Momé, published in July, Panettiere discussed her relationship with her daughter, Kaya, whom she welcomed with former boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014.

“I’ve been able to put her first no matter how I’ve felt or what I’ve experienced,” she said. Panettiere added that she hoped “one day she’ll understand my story, and why I wasn’t able to be with her all the time.”

She also offered an encouraging message to other mothers facing difficult periods, “You’re stronger than you know. And you’re going to be just fine.”

At a May 26 book event in Los Angeles, Panettiere spoke about people who had told her that sharing her experiences with mental health struggles had encouraged them to seek help.

“So many people have have come up to me within the industry and outside of the industry and shared their stories with me and said, ‘Because you’ve talked about your mental health, it gave me the courage to be honest about mine and get myself help and you saved my life,’” she said.

Panettiere added, “I was like, This is worth it. I can hopefully leave the world a better place than I found it.”