A statement from her father, Skip, described Panettiere as an “incredible light” who had brought “immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her”.
He said: “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. 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 onscreen.”
The family also asked for privacy as they come to terms with what her father described as an “unimaginable loss”.
Panettiere discussed heartbreaking reason she gave up custody of her daughter
Before her death, Panettiere spoke openly to parenting publication Mome for its July cover story about her daughter Kaya, now 11, including the traumatic circumstances surrounding her birth and the decision to transfer custody to her former fiancé, Ukrainian former professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
Panettiere and Klitschko welcomed Kaya in 2014. But several years later, while struggling with substance addiction, the actress made the difficult decision to give custody of her daughter to Klitschko.
Looking back, Panettiere stressed that the decision was made because she believed she had to get herself well before she could properly care for her child.
“It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, nor was it a decision I even wanted to make,” she admitted. “I was going through a really challenging time in my life… I knew I needed to be able to put her first so that I could get the help I needed and be the mum she needed me to be.”
The actress had already endured a traumatic experience when Kaya was born.
Panettiere sustained a severe haemorrhage and required seven blood transfusions, as well as surgery after blood vessels began to fail.
“I closed my eyes and just prayed for my daughter to be OK,” she recalled. “I truly was ready to go if it was my time. Kaya being safe and healthy was all that mattered.”
But after the birth, Panettiere said she struggled emotionally and developed postnatal depression. She eventually turned to alcohol as a way of coping.
“I turned to wine, which ultimately ended up leading to an alcohol dependency. It was how I would get through each day,” she claimed.
Although she sought treatment, Panettiere later realised that the underlying depression had not been properly addressed.
“I wish more people had known what it was at the time. Maybe I wouldn’t have waited so long to get help,” she admitted.
Six years after giving up custody, Panettiere said she remained extremely close to Kaya and spoke to her regularly.
“I love my daughter, and I’m so proud of the young woman she is becoming. I talk to her all the time, and I feel so connected to her. She’s like a mini-me.”
She also claimed she had “been able to put her first no matter how I’ve felt or what I’ve experienced”, adding that she hoped Kaya would eventually understand the circumstances behind their separation.
Panettiere described herself as “resilient” and a “work in progress”, saying she was “doing the work…and doing my best”.
The actress also addressed the painful experience in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, released earlier this year.
Writing about being separated from her daughter, she described not sharing a home with Kaya as “the most gut-wrenching experience of my life”.
“Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life, and it’s hard to describe the layers of emotion – including sadness, resentment, and anger – I’ve felt because of it,” she wrote.
Panettiere admitted she felt she had fallen short of the mother she had imagined herself becoming.
“I grieve that I’m not the mother I thought I’d be and definitely not the mother I want to be (trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime),” she wrote.
Despite the pain, she said she remained grateful to be Kaya’s mother.
“Although I miss Kaya so much my heart aches, I know how blessed I am to be her mom. She is the greatest gift of my life, with all the best parts of her father and me.”