‘All My Children’s Esta TerBlanche Cause of Death Revealed

The cause of death has been determined for All My Children alumna Esta TerBlanche, who died in July at her North Hollywood home at the age of 51.

TerBlanche died of an intracranial hemorrhage as a result of blunt force traumatic head injury, likely due to a ground level fall, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said in a press release Wednesday. The manner of death was ruled an accident.

Also known as a brain bleed, an intracranial hemorrhage is a type of stroke that causes blood to pool between the brain and the skull, preventing oxygen from reaching the brain, according to a description from the Cleveland Clinic.

On the soap, TerBlanche played Gillian Andrassy Lavery from 1997-2001. A headstrong Hungarian princess and cousin of Dimitri Marick, she was intrigued by Cameron Mathison’s character, Ryan Lavery, and the couple married.

After Gillian’s death on the show in 2001, TerBlanche returned to South Africa. She opened a spa and worked on multiple documentaries with filmmaker Michael Kastenbaum. She also hosted several TV shows.

Her other television credits include Spin City,  Egoli: Place of Gold and The Syndicate.