Hayden Panettiere has opened up about her brother Jansen’s February 2023 death at the age of 28 from an undiagnosed heart condition for the first time.
The actress and singer, 35, told People Wednesday, ‘He was my only sibling, and it was my job to protect him. When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul.’
At the time of Jansen’s death, Panettiere’s parents Lesley Vogul and Skip Panettiere said in a statement that his ‘sudden passing was due to cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) coupled with aortic valve complications.’
The New York-born entertainer said that she dealt with agoraphobia in the wake of the high-profile family tragedy.
The Heroes actress said she put on weight – ‘I just ballooned out’ – amid a spike in ‘stress and cortisol’ levels as she dealt with the tragic event.
Hayden Panettiere, 35, has opened up about her brother Jansen’s February 2023 death at the age of 28 from an undiagnosed heart condition for the first time. Pictured in LA in 2022
‘I didn’t feel confident to put on clothes and get out of the house, but I also knew that I needed to get out and keep moving or I’d never stop looking and feeling this way,’ Panettiere said.
She added, ‘It became a destructive hamster wheel of, do I feel good enough to go out?’