Celebrity Plastic Surgeon Frank Ryan Dies in Car Crash

Dr. Frank Ryan, 50, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon known for his Heidi Montag makeover and work on stars like Gene Simmons, Vince Neil, Adrianne Curry and Shauna Sand, was killed in a car accident yesterday afternoon.

TMZ reports that Ryan's jeep went off the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, smashing onto some rocks. "Lifeguards initially tried to help Ryan, to no avail," TMZ writes. Ryan was trapped in the vehicle with major head injuries; he died at the scene.

Before the accident, Ryan had been hiking near Malibu with his Border Collie, Jill, and shared a photo on Twitter.

New reports claim the plastic surgeon was sending text messages right before the fatal crash. Celebrity publicist Charmaine Blake told PEOPLE that Ryan's family was told by investigators that the Tweeting caused the wreck on Monday. The California Highway Patrol confirms Ryan was texting before the crash, but investigators have not officially determined the cause of the accident.

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Oh my! Friend and plastic surgeon Dr Frank Ryan died yesterday in a terrible car crash. I was supposed to see him Thursday morning."

During a candlelight vigil in Malibu Tuesday night, the overarching message was that Dr. Ryan was "an angel."

I'm devastated," Lawonna Rashad, also connected to the Dr. Ryan Foundation, which benefited the less fortunate., told PEOPLE. "I've known him for nine years. An angel has been taken away from me. His circle was Beverly Hills and Malibu, but it was also South Central and Compton."

Comments

(98)

Tuesday 17 August

By Kent Knudsen

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God speed Frank, you were a good man with a big heart. I will miss your kindness and friendship.

By mickey

This is too bad. I hope he wasn't texting someone when he fell off the cliff. RIP

Wednesday 18 August

By makeredhappy

Catch on, people....put the electronics way, hang up and DRIVE!!!! Glad he only killed himself and not some innocent person who was actually DRIVING!!!

By MICKEY

8/18 - Well, that was an easy one to solve. It makes you glad people like that die because most driver/texters kill someone else and we wouldn't want that. Killing someone while texting is murder. They tested drinkers and texters and found out that texting while driving is worse than drinking while driving. True story, google it, I'm not exaggerating. The dog and the phone survived and his family gets to spend all of his money.

By 007

So sad. Every life is precious. R.I.P. Frank.

By TK

Very sad! The story mentioned he was with his dog. Did it survive?

By kris

yes the dog was seriously injured and found in the water, but he did survive.

Glad the poor dog survived...at least HE wasn't texting!

By Cara

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Wow. That was random. Did you forget to take your meds today?

Weird... I was responding to a poster who went off on a tangent that had nothing to do with Dr. Frank. In any event, this is very sad. God speed.

Friday 20 August

By cynthia

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it is very sad even though everyone knows not to text while driving its still a life and now another family is grieving because he did something really dumb.R.I.P. i really loved the dr. he was great with gene simmons

By PJ

Read his Tweets. He lived well up to the end. All that matters anymore. May we all be so fortunate. RIP

By Bryan

Yep, live it up and die doing something stupid. We should all aspire to that. Yep yep yep.

By Debra

MY GOSH, HE JUST DID AN INTERVIEW WITH SHOWBIZ TONIGHT THE OTHER DAY TALKING ABOUT HEIDI MONTAG. WOW

When people do interviews, they don't know they are going to die in a couple of days.

By mari

This is so sad. I saw him when he was being interviewed regarding the Heidi makeover.. You just never know when you'll be called "home". Very sad, so full of life, he seemed to be....I'm sure his friends and family are in shock, not to mention beyond sad at the sudden loss... May God be with you all...

By DARK

I think God got his signals mixed! This was supposed to happen to Mel Gibson when he crashed his car, not to the good doctor.

By mimi tholsted

this is so so sad......OMG, AND THE POOR DOG SURVIVED.....SO INCREDIBLE, RIP!

By Mandi Pinni

What a terrible thing to write. No one 'deserves' to die. This is sad, but all deaths are sad no matter who they are.

By Sue

Life is unpredictable. May he rest in peace. Not a fan of Mel's but he does have many children and wishing him dead is hateful.

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