Skye McCole Bartusiak, best known for her role in The Patriot, died on Saturday in Houston. She was 21.

Sky McCole Bartusiak Dies

An official cause of death for Bartusiak has yet to be revealed. However, her mother, Helen McCole Bartusiak, has said she’d been suffering from epileptic seizures. "We lost our girl," her mother told CNN. "She was a kind and really beautiful girl."

“We think she had a seizure and choked and nobody was there,” her mother added. “[Paramedics] were working on her for 45 minutes and could not get a heartbeat. I’ve done CPR on that kid more than one time and it just didn’t work this time.”

In 2000’s The Patriot, Bartusiak played the youngest daughter of Mel Gibson’s character, Revolutionary War militia hero Benjamin Martin. She also appeared on the big screen in Don’t Say a Word, Riding in Cars with Boys, and Boogeyman. She made her directorial debut with the action short Bushido in 2013.

Bartusiak often worked in TV, making appearances in a number of popular shows. She guested on Touched by an Angel, George Lopez, House M.D. and Lost and had a recurring arc on 24 as Megan Matheson.

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