Shannon Price Explains Ending Gary Coleman’s Life Support

The new A&E special, ‘Lie Detector: Truth or Deception’, is serving all the drama surrounding Shannon Price’s decision to pull the plug on Gary Coleman’s life support after a tragic fall in 2010. Despite their 2008 divorce (which nobody knew about), the two were still living together, and now Shannon’s spilling tea. However, her answers, as well as the results of her polygraph test taken on the show, have led some to question her story after it indicated deception. Here’s the lowdown…

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Shannon Price Recalls Cutting Off Gary Coleman’s Life Support

Shannon opened up about the moment she decided to turn off Coleman’s life support. The ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ star suffered a fall at their shared home in 2010. It landed the actor in the hospital in critical condition. Shannon claims she “had no choice” but to let him go after doctors delivered devastating news. “He had gone into cardiac arrest, and that is ultimately what took his life,” she shared in the A&E special, per PEOPLE.

After being admitted on a Wednesday, Shannon says doctors called her the next morning, asking about Gary’s DNR (do not resuscitate) order. “I said, ‘Yeah, resuscitate him.’ I tried to do everything in my will,” she insisted. By Thursday, things took a darker turn. Shannon visited Gary, spoke with doctors, and was told he likely wouldn’t make it to Friday.

“I mean, he was basically already gone. And I said, ‘Okay, are his eyes dilated?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Okay, can I see?’ And they showed me, and that’s when I knew.”

Shannon Price stood firm by her words, saying her decision to pull the plug was based on what she saw at the hospital, and apparently, it wasn’t looking good.

A Secret Divorce Nobody Knew About

Shannon and Gary had been divorced since 2008. However, that was not something doctors and loved ones knew about until after his death. “Doctors assumed Shannon was still married to Gary when in fact they had been divorced in secret,” host Tony Harris revealed.

Shannon handed doctors a document naming her as the decision-maker on Gary’s advanced medical directive. It gave her the power to call the shots on his end-of-life care. The former couple married in 2007. But Shannon says the divorce was “a mistake” she initiated, despite Gary wanting otherwise. “I was just still at the house. My stuff was there, everything was there, we were still together,” she explained.

Shannon Goes VIRAL After Failing These Questions In Her Lie Detector Test

Just last week, Shannon went viral when a clip of her polygraph test results was read out to her. She’d taken a lie detector test to answer a number of questions, including about Gary’s fatal 2010 fall. When asked, “Did you physically cause Gary’s fall?” Price replied, “No,” but the test indicated deception, according to the examiner, George Olivo.

“You failed the exam regarding Gary’s fall,” George told her, adding, “There are two things I know for sure, Shannon. One, you were not completely honest… and two, there is more to this story that hasn’t been told.” Whew! The other two questions on whether she ever struck Gary or withheld help came back inconclusive. Shannon Price stayed cool, calling the results “false,” telling George there was a reason she hadn’t been locked up.

The ex-wife of 80s TV star Gary Coleman ‘fails’ lie detector test after being asked about the fatal fall that ended his life.
Coleman passed away in 2010 after falling down the stairs at his Utah home.
His passing was ruled an accident; however, some accused Shannon Price of… pic.twitter.com/EoChlpOiC2
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 8, 2025