The Hasselhoff family are still mourning the loss of David's ex-wife Pamela. She passed away at 62 years old from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. To make matters worse, her daughter Hayley finds her in that state in a traumatic, life altering moment. There wasn't a suicide note left behind explaining any motive or what was going through Pamela's head at the time. Moreover, neighbors suggest that she didn't seem like the type to have those dark thoughts. However, new reports lend some light to the kind of pain she was experiencing behind the scenes.
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Recently, PEOPLE spoke with Terry Ahern, a longtime friend and former representative of Pamela. He echoes the sentiment her neighbors did in the original Daily Mail report. "She was the last person in the world I would think [would do that]. It's a shock," he states. The last time they spoke, Bach-Hasselhoff expressed how excited she was to be a grandmother. "Oh, [she was] just [saying] how she was just over the moon being a grandmother — over the moon," Terry emphasizes.
However, Ahern also spotlights some of the pain that Pamela had felt for years following the effects of a 2003 motorcycle crash with David Hasselhoff.
Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff Dealt With Tragic Effects of Motorcycle Crash Before Her Death
The incident leaves the former actress with a broken neck and back respectively. She spends months in the hospital trying to overcome the 'crushed bones' and brutal effects her body was experiencing. But even after Pamela left the hospital, that pain never ceased. It proved to have longer lasting problems in the form of arthritis, making so many days nearly unlivable.
"That plagued her — the arthritis from it," Terry emphasizes. "Because that stuff catches up to you when you get older — injuries that are [from] earlier, arthritis sets in ... Pam's body was ravaged from arthritis caused by the accident. It continued to spread and wreak havoc."
Ultimately, Alhern wishes that he knew what Pamela was going through before she decided to take her own life. Moreover, he places a measure of guilt for not seeing any of the signs beforehand. "The sad thing is, when you love somebody and you know them and this happens, the first thing you think about is — they had all that built up inside and I couldn't see it. I mean, that must be so horrible to be walking around with that," Terry states.
"Pamela stood for kindness, sweetness, and love, plain and simple. She loved animals and people and cherished her family. If you needed help, she was the first to respond. Her big smile and laugh will forever leave an impression on our hearts."
