Erin Moran's husband's heartbreaking statement

Erin Moran’s bereaved husband has spoken out publicly for the first time since the actress’s death on Saturday afternoon to pay tribute to his wife and reveal that she died peacefully, by his side, in her sleep. She was holding his hand when she passed.

In a moving and fulsome statement, Steve Fleischmann who met Erin on April 22, 1992 and married the following year, told of how his wife was diagnosed with throat cancer around their anniversary last year.

Photo/Getty Images

He said: ‘She was feeling fine on our anniversary 11-23-2016. Maybe four or five days after we got back Erin woke up and had about a dime size blood stain on her pillowcase.

But the blood stains continued ominously until the couple assumed she was suffering from tonsillitis.

A visit to an ENT specialist and a biopsy revealed the awful truth.

According to Mr Fleischmann Erin received chemotherapy on Thursdays and radiation five days a week.

The actress's devastated husband broke his silence on Tuesday and released a moving statement revealing the 56-year-old died by his side on April 22 - on the 25th anniversary of when the couple met 

But he wrote: ‘It got so bad so fast. By the middle of February, Erin could no longer speak or eat or drink. She had a feeding tube implant and I feed [sic] her 6 to 8 times a day.’

Remarkably he said: ‘She was still happy, she was active, she texted people on her phone all day.’

But on the 21st, the day before her death at the age of 56, she started having difficulty breathing. She woke up the following day feeling unwell. Her husband drove to the store to fetch her Kleenex she had asked for and when he came back they lay on the bed together watching TV.

He wrote: ‘I laid down next to her held her right hand in my left. I feel [sic] asleep woke up about a hour later still holding her hand and she was gone, she was just gone.’

Fleischmann said the cancer treatment facility 'never' mentioned how aggressive Erin's condition was, but said the coroner revealed to him that it was 'really really bad.' 

He was told the cancer had spread to Erin's spleen and brain, and that she had fluid in her lungs.  

Earlier friends of Erin expressed their shock at her rapid decline with those who had seen her most recently saying that she had appeared ‘happy.’ Though many in the Berkshire Pointe trailer park which she lived with her husband and mother-in-law Donna Woods admitted to DailyMail.com that they had not seen her out and about recently.

Former Happy Days co-star and longtime friend Anson Williams, who played Potsie Weber on the show, told People.com: ‘It’s hard to wrap your arms around. She was having treatment for throat cancer, so I was contacting her husband and her and she seemed to be fighting it, really doing well. I was just shocked when I got the call she had passed.

‘I had no idea it was so bad. She kept very quiet. We all kept quiet too out of respect for Erin. She couldn’t speak, but her texts were very [positive].’

Another who knew Erin said that despite being a heavy smoker with a history of alcohol and substance abuse she had got sober and had been, ‘in a good place.’ 

Seen for the first time these pictures obtained by DailyMail.com show Erin Moran’s body being taken from her trailer park home by Harris County Coroner moments after the actress had been pronounced dead on Saturday afternoon.

Police and paramedics responded to the 911 call believed to have been made by her husband Steve Fleischmann around 4pm on Saturday but it was too late for the 56-year-old actress made famous by her role as Joanie in Happy Days. 

The autopsy findings released earlier today showed that Erin’s death was likely due to complications linked to the stage 4 cancer from which few seem to have known she was suffering.

Toxicology results are pending though no illegal drugs or paraphernalia were found in the small trailer home.

But Erin’s struggle with alcohol and substance abuse has been well documented and Kimberly admitted that drugs are a problem in the otherwise quiet community

She said: 'There’s two houses on this street we’ve seen a lot of activity as a matter of fact. I’m not 100% sure but we’ve got an idea that past Ms Moran’s home down a ways there’s been speculation that there might be drugs.'

The Harrison County Sheriff's Office announced her death in a statement that read: 'On Saturday the 22nd day of April, 2017, Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann passed away at her residence located in New Salisbury, Indiana.'

'A joint investigation into Mrs Moran's death was conducted by the Harrison County Sheriff's Department and the Harrison County Coroner's Office.

'A subsequent autopsy revealed that Mrs Moran likely succumbed to complications of stage 4 cancer.

'Standard toxicology tests were performed and the results are pending, however, no illegal narcotics were found at the residence.' 

It was previously believed that she might have died of a drug overdose, and the sheriff's statement was released after a worker at the trailer park Moran was living detailed how the star had tried to turn her life around. 

This article was first published on dailymail.co.uk and is republished here with permission.