Carrie Fisher’s brother says motherhood spared her from an earlier death

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(NEW YORK) — Carrie Fisher died at 60 years old on December 27, 2016, following a heart attack, and traces of several drugs were subsequently found in her system. But her brother Todd tells Page Six that Fisher would have died “long ago,” had it not been for the birth of her daughter, Billie Lourd.

The Star Wars actress was open about her lifelong struggles with mental illness and addiction. However, her brother explained, “When Carrie became a mother it grounded her very differently.”

Todd Fisher said, “Looking at Carrie, [we thought] ‘she’s going to be a mother, holy mackerel what is that going to be?"” While admitting she was a “unique” mom, Fisher says motherhood saved her. “It’s what kept Carrie with us. I think we would have lost Carrie long ago, long before if it hadn’t been for Billie,” he asserts.

Lourd gave birth to her first child, a son named Kingston, in September. Todd says Carrie would have loved to be a grandmother.

“Carrie would have continued that, she obsessed over Billie…I mean look what happened to my mom,” he said of actress Debbie Reynolds, who died a day after Fisher.  “[She] bought the house next door to Carrie to be close to Billie. Debbie and Carrie weren’t even talking at the time. She would have bought the house next door, so to speak.”

By Stephen IervolinoCopyright © 2020, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.