Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and more sent their love to actor as she was poised to spend a second night in the hospital after she reportedly went into cardiac arrest

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The actor and writer Carrie Fisher was poised to spend a second night in a Los Angeles hospital on Saturday, as concerned friends and co-stars of the Hollywood star expressed hope she would make a full recovery.

Fisher, 60, was aboard an 11-hour flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday when she reportedly went into cardiac arrest.

After the aircraft landed, Fisher, best known as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, was rushed to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and placed in an intensive care unit.

The hospital declined to comment on her condition on Saturday, citing patient confidentiality laws. There were no further updates from relatives who spent Christmas Eve at her bedside.

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Amid the uncertainty, well-wishers shared their prayers and hopes for Fisher’s recovery.

“I am shocked and saddened to hear the news about my dear friend,” Fisher’s Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo opposite Fisher, said in a statement to the Associated Press.

The 74-year-old actor added: “Our thoughts are with Carrie, her family and friends.”

Others offered their hopes for the actor’s recovery on Twitter using the trending hashtag #MayTheForceBeWithHer.

Well-wishers included Fisher’s Star Wars co-stars Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, and Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker and said he and others were “sending all our love”.

Other Star Wars actors expressing sympathy for their hospitalized co-star where Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO; Dave Prowse, who acted as Darth Vader; and Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian.

Fisher had been in London filming the third season of the British television comedy Catastrophe and to promote her latest book, The Princess Diarist.

Fisher used he memoir, which recounts her behind-the-scenes experiences making the sci-fi blockbuster, to reveal how she and Ford had a secret affair.

It remains unclear precisely when and how Fisher became unwell on her flight to LA.

A source who was not authorized to discuss the incident aboard United Airlines 935 told the Los Angeles Times the actress was “in a lot of distress on the flight”. About 15 minutes before it touched down the crew reported a passenger was “unresponsive”.

According to the LA police department, officers responded around 12.15pm to an emergency call involving a female passenger in cardiac arrest. On arrival, they found paramedics performing CPR on the victim.

In just a few, short conversations with reporters since Fisher was hospitalized, her family have played down much speculation surrounding her illness and stressed that their information is limited.

Her brother, Todd Fisher, told Entertainment Tonight late on Friday that his sister was in intensive care and being “well looked after”.

“If everyone could just pray for her that would be good,” he said. “The doctors are doing their thing and we don’t want to bug them. We are waiting by patiently.”



Asked for details of her condition, he replied: “We don’t know. We hope for the best. We certainly do not know her condition, that’s why she is in the ICU. I’m sure everyone wants to speculate, but now is not the time for that.”

There were no additional updates from Fisher’s family members or close associates on Saturday – although she was believed to still be in hospital.

The daughter of Debbie Reynolds and the late singer Eddie Fisher, Fisher shot to stardom when the original Star Wars was released in 1977. She revisited the role as the leader of a galactic rebellion in three sequels, including last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.



In her first and best known book, Postcards From the Edge, she wrote about her turbulent relationship with her mother, as well as a cocaine addiction and mental health problems for which she had received electroshock therapy. She also recently started writing an advice column for the Guardian.