Former Bond Girl 'in a better place' after being homeless
Fox411: Lana Wood, Natalie Wood's younger sister who portrayed Plenty O'Toole, is overwhelmed by the generosity of fans
Former Bond Girl Lana Wood can’t seem to escape tragedy.
The 71-year-old star’s daughter Evan Maldonado died at age 42 on July 18, Fox News has confirmed.
“Evan went into full cardiac arrest and had no heartbeat for over 20 minutes,” Wood initially wrote on her GoFundMe page, set up by friend Gregor Gillespie in hopes of raising funds for the star and her family after they found themselves homeless in April. “She has been intubated and is on life support.”
Gillespie confirmed Maldonado's death to Fox News on Thursday. Maldonado leaves behind three children.
“She just was so ill,” he explained. “She was on oxygen 24/7…It’s horrible. The family had just gotten back on their feet again and now [Lana] is being dealt with another blow.”
LANA WOOD: MY LIFE WAS 'RAPIDLY FALLING APART'
Wood told RadarOnline.com Maldonado spent a week in a coma following a massive heart attack.
“We gave Evan the last rites and then we turned off her life support,” Wood told the celebrity news site. “She was declared brain dead…The hospital kept giving me a sliver of hope. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted it to be true. So I hung on for a week. It’s rough. I feel like I’ve been very, very beaten. I hurt from head to toe with the pain of losing my daughter.”
Inside Edition reported earlier this year that Wood was staying in a motel room outside of Los Angeles with her daughter, son-in-law, three grandchildren and two dogs while struggling to make ends meet.
The news site added Maldonado battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma and her radiation treatments permanently scarred her lungs, resulting in her breathing through an oxygen compressor. The family struggled to pay for their rented home in California and they were ultimately evicted. They scrambled to find a motel that would allow the family to stay with their pets.
The actress told Fox News earlier this month the family’s growing medical bills were to blame for their financial woes and eventual homelessness. Wood said she suffers from health issues of her own, including arthritis and claimed doctors have tried numerous treatments but nothing has provided long-term relief.
NATALIE WOOD'S SISTER LANA NOW HOMELESS
“I realized [I was in trouble] for quite a while, but it seemed like we were able to bail out,” Wood explained. “…We had more health problems than expected — not that you ever expect them — but I know I’m not going to get well. I’m only going to get worse… But my daughter, she’s all hooked up to oxygen. She’s got two units. She can’t walk across a room without becoming terribly winded. We weren’t expecting that. She has other medical problems that I don’t think she would be comfortable with me going into on her behalf… But she’s not well. She’s really not well. It’s difficult.”
Since the GoFundMe page was created for Wood, the sister of the late Natalie Wood, on March 25, fans have pitched in over $37,000, totally overshooting its $10,000 goal.
Lana Wood and her family have since moved into a small home. She credited donations from the campaign for giving them a new start.
“Oh goodness, if I wasn’t able to touch [that money], I wouldn’t have electricity, water, or a roof over my head,” she said. “But you know, the thing a lot of us forget, myself included, is you put down first, last, and a security deposit and you’re in a place. But how about all the deposits necessary for water, gas, electricity — all of our things had to be put in storage.
"Even doing that we lost more than half of everything we owned… and finding a motel that would accept us with dogs was not easy. It was costly… We’re still coming to terms with everything, so we’re not pulled together by any stretch of the imagination, but we’re trying. I’m trying very hard to make it a home.”
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