‘Happy Days’ Star Erin Moran Relied on a Feeding Tube to Stay Alive During Final Days Battling Stage 4 Cancer: Source

Rest in peace, Erin Moran. (Photo: Roth/starmaxinc.com)
Rest in peace, Erin Moran. (Photo: Roth/starmaxinc.com)

Happy DaysErin Moran was fed through a GI tube at home with her mother-in-law, according to the coroner’s examination

Moran was receiving treatment for Stage 4 cancer, including a gastrointestinal tube in her throat to keep her alive during her final days, a law enforcement source tells PEOPLE.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous pending further details to be released by the Harrison County Sheriff’s Dept., said the coroner found a gastrointestinal tube during the examination, as well as “ample” evidence that the actress succumbed to Stage 4 cancer. The type of cancer was not immediately clear.

“It was indicative when they did the autopsy that she was receiving medical care,” the source tells PEOPLE. “There were no illicit substances or anything to suggest foul play.”

A GI tube is usually inserted into the stomach by a physician to give nutrients to patients who cannot feed themselves. It can also be used to remove fluids from the body.

Moran was pronounced dead on Saturday at the trailer Moran shared in rural New Salisbury, IN, with her husband’s mother, Donna Woods.

“To my knowledge, they had their own room,” the source tells PEOPLE.

Both Woods and Moran’s husband, Steven Fleischmann, have remained out of the public eye.


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