In a 911 call to emergency services, Dr. Maya Angelou's caretaker implies that the poet did not want to be resuscitated in the event of her death.
In a 911 call to emergency services, Dr. Maya Angelou's caretaker implies that the poet did not want to be resuscitated in the event of her death.
In the audio obtained by ET, the caretaker called the authorities, saying that Angelou had appeared to have passed away. When asked to attempt CPR on Angelou, the caretaker informed the operator that Angelou left orders saying that "if something happened to just let her go."
Since the caretaker did not have an official Do Not Resuscitate order, she eventually complied with the operator and attempted to revive Angelou, but was unsuccessful.
The renowned poet and author died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Wednesday at age 86.
She was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis and in the 1960s served as the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She also worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X. Among her achievements, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 and the Lincoln Medal in 2008.