Dawson’s Creek writer Heidi Ferrer dies by suicide aged 50 after long coronavirus battle

Dawson’s Creek writer Heidi Ferrer has died at the age of 50.

The late star, who also worked on ABC series Wasteland, died in LA, with husband Nick Guthe confirming the news.

In a blog post on his wife’s page, the filmmaker shared that she died by suicide, following a lengthy battle with long haul coronavirus.

Speaking about her health issues, he wrote: ‘Over 13 months it took every part of her life away: Her mobility, her enjoyment of food as she had to eat a very restrictive diet, and, in the end, her ability to sleep and even to read books and enjoy them.’

In lieu of flowers, he requested for people to make a donation to the Infantile Scoliosis Outreach Program, a non-profit that ‘saved’ their son Bexon’s spine.

Nick also paid tribute to Ferrer on Facebook following her death, sharing family photos with fans.

‘It is with the heaviest of hearts that I must pass along the news our beloved, Heidi, passed away tonight after a 13 month battle with Long Haul Covid,’ he wrote. ‘Anyone who knew her knew she was a fighter and she fought this insidious monster as it slowly took her from us. 

‘She was the best. My soulmate. A wonderful mother to Bexon. There is a gaping hole in our lives that won’t soon be filled but we will live for her. 

‘Godspeed, sweet angel. I’ll see you down the road.’

Offering his condolences on Twitter, he added that it was an ‘incredibly painful’ time for their family.

Ferrer moved to LA in the 80s to pursue an acting career – but turned her hand to screenwriting a few years later.

She joined the Dawson’s Creek team in 1999, penning several episodes of the teen drama starring Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams and James Van Der Beek.

As well as the series, she worked on Wasteland, alongside Kevin Williamson.

Ferrer came down with coronavirus in at the beginning of the pandemic and detailed her horrific symptoms in lengthy blog posts, revealing the illness was one of the ‘hardest’ things she has ever been through.

‘The monster is real and it came for me. Recovering from Covid-19 has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through and I’ve been through a lot,’ she wrote last September, explaining that she first contracted symptoms in April of that year.

‘I thought I was safe, I thought that my family was protected—that I did everything right. But the monster was real… And it came for me.

‘It kept coming for me from somewhere inside my own body, maybe it morphed into my own body attacking itself.

‘Maybe it’s still hiding in a reservoir inside my nerves or one of my organs, striking more violently after dark, maybe it would never leave.

‘It was a betrayal of my own body and brain, of my cellular matter, it was fear and at times, unspeakable terror.’

Ferrer is survived by husband Nick and their son, Bexon.