'I just don't want him to die,' Gary Coleman's ex-wife says in 911 recording

SANTAQUIN, Utah County — Child TV star Gary Coleman's ex-wife was panicked and distraught as she told a 911 dispatcher that Coleman had fallen and was bleeding from the back of his head, according to a recording of her 911 call released Wednesday.

During the May 26 call, Shannon Price tells dispatchers that Coleman, who she called her husband, was downstairs making food when she heard a loud bang and found him bleeding on the floor.

Coleman, 42, was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where he died last Friday after being removed from life support. Hospital officials said the official cause of death was an intracranial hemorrhage.

A UVRMC statement released late Wednesday with Price's permission said Coleman had previously completed an advance health care directive granting Price permission to make medical decisions on his behalf if he was unable to do so. The statement said such directives remain in effect regardless of the patient's marital status unless modified by the patient. The hospital statement confirmed the document was in effect at the time of Coleman's death. The statement said no further information would be released.

Coleman's lawyer, Randy Kester, said the actor and Price were divorced in August 2008, about a year after they were married. He said he did not know who made the decision to end life support.

Utah divorce decree documents obtained by The Associated Press list only a John Doe and Jane Doe as parties, but the last page lists Price's name and address, saying a copy of the decree was mailed to her. The decree is dated Aug. 12, 2008. The couple wed in August 2007 after meeting on the set of the 2006 movie "Church Ball."

Price was panting and out of breath as she described what she saw to dispatchers: She heard a bang and then found Coleman lying on the floor covered in blood, with a wound on the back of his head. He was lethargic and "bubbling at the mouth," Price said.

"His head is bloody. There's blood all over the floor. I don't know what happened," she told dispatchers. "Send someone quick because I don't even know if he's, like, gonna be alive, because there's a lot of blood on the floor."

Price said she couldn't help Coleman or drive him to a hospital because she suffered from seizures.