Hayden Panettiere’s old injuries from zebra fall ‘still bothered’ her months before death

Hayden Panettiere was still suffering from injuries related to a 2005 on-set accident months before her tragic death at age 36.

The “Heroes” alum recalled in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” released in May, that she was thrown from a zebra while performing a stunt for the 2005 movie “Racing Stripes.”

Panettiere, who was 14 at the time, said she suffered damage to two vertebrae in her neck, a concussion and severe whiplash.

“I kept my mouth shut and endured the pain in my back and neck,” she wrote in the book.

“Over 20 years later, these injuries still bother me,” she added.

Additionally, Panettiere, who struggled with addiction before her death, said that her opioid use increased when an “old neck injury flared up.”

While promoting her memoir, Panettiere told Women’s Health Magazine that she was once left nearly unable to walk due to an unexplained injury.

“I quite literally woke up, and felt nothing but pins and needles from my waist down,” she said in May.

“I wasn’t able to bend my toes, lift my foot at all,” the “Nashville” star continued. “No one was able to give me a solid answer. It was like that for so long that I was sitting there going, ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life?’”

Panettiere admitted the health scare was “the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me physically, for sure.”

Page Six learned Panettiere was suffering from health issues before she died of an apparent overdose at a South Carolina apartment complex on Sunday.

“I know she suffered earlier this year with her back,” her hairdresser and good friend, Erick Orellana, exclusively told us on Monday.

Orellana described Panettiere’s pain as “really severe,” adding, “At one point, it was even hard for her to move her legs.”

Lori Tan Chinn, one of Panettiere’s “Sleepwalker” co-stars, told Page Six that Panettiere “moved a little slower for her age” on the set of her final film.

Panettiere was photographed in March with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, at Los Angeles International Airport using crutches to get around.

At the time, Panettiere insisted she was dealing with pinched nerves in her lower back.

Brian, whom Panettiere had a tumultuous relationship with that included multiple domestic violence arrests, was on the scene with his brother, Zach, when the actress died.

Zach found Panettiere unresponsive sitting in a chair in the living room, while Brian was asleep in another room at their Airbnb rental apartment, according to TMZ.

After the brothers called 911, first responders attempted to revive Panettiere but were unsuccessful. 

Brian, according to a police report obtained by Page Six, handed over a “bag of medication” that Panettiere had allegedly been taking after she was declared dead.

If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.