Inside the Tragic Death of ‘Star Wars’ Icon Carrie Fisher

It’s been nine years since Star Wars icon Carrie Fisher’s death. The actress was 60 years old at the time of her passing in 2019.

Fisher died on December 27, 2016. She went into cardiac arrest on an L.A.-bound flight and later died as a result, and sadly, her beloved mother, Debbie Reynolds died a day later at the age of 84.

Months after her passing, a more tragic revelation would come into play. Per The Los Angeles Times, Fisher’s toxicology report found evidence of cocaine, methadone, MDMA (ecstasy), alcohol and opiates when she was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Hospital on Dec. 23. She would die four days later.

According to the report, the toxicology results “suggests there was an exposure to heroin, but that the dose and time of exposure cannot be pinpointed. Therefore we cannot establish the significance of heroin regarding the cause of death in this case.” The tests revealed that the cocaine would have been consumed within the previous 72 hours.

Fisher officially went into cardiac arrest on December 27. Doctors attempted to revive her for 90 minutes but were unsuccessful. Her cause of death was listed as sleep apnea, with other contributing factors, with the coroner citing “other conditions: atherosclerotic heart disease, drug use.”

Fisher’s only child, fellow actress and daughter Billie Lourd, told PEOPLE that her mother had struggles. “My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases,” she said in a statement.

Fisher was open about her addiction struggles throughout her career. While promoting her autobiography Wishful Drinking, she told Associated Press her life was riddled by addiction and stints in psychiatric hospitals and rehab clinics, as well as being treated for an overdose once. “We did cocaine on the set of [The] Empire [Strikes Back], in the ice planet,” Fisher said, per The Guardian. “I didn’t even like coke that much. It was just a case of getting on whatever train I needed to take to get high.”

Fisher also revealed that John Belushi – who died of a drug overdose in 1982 – once told her she needed help. “Slowly I realized I was doing a bit more drugs than other people and losing my choice in the matter,” she said. “If I’d been addicted to booze I’d be dead now, because you just go out and get it.”