Emily Willis, the actress and adult film star known for a role opposite Bella Thorne in the 2023 sci-fi movie Divinity, has been left paralyzed and unable to communicate beyond grunts and moans after suffering a cardiac arrest at a luxury rehab clinic in January 2024, her family has revealed.
Willis, 27, whose real name is Litzy Lara Banuelos, checked into Summit Malibu in California in early 2024 to treat a worsening ketamine and alcohol addiction. Nine days later she was found unresponsive in cardiac arrest and fell into a coma that left her with irreversible brain damage, according to a civil complaint filed by her mother, Yesenia Cooper.
Willis earned accolades from Penthouse magazine and several million dollars from her work in the adult film industry before her health collapsed. She previously swept the AVN Awards, the adult industry's equivalent of the Oscars.
Texts before the collapse
Before entering treatment, Willis texted her younger brother, Michael Cooper, 24, to say she would be 'detoxing' for 21 days with no phone and no substances, on a $45,500 treatment program at Summit Malibu.
"She said it had a lot of amenities, and a lot of celebrities went there and they make sure you come out well. She was strong going in and had a path forward," Michael, who lives in Utah, told the Daily Mail. "I had zero reason to think anything would go wrong."
Allegations of neglect
The civil complaint alleges Willis suffered night terrors, a severe urinary tract infection and dehydration so severe that a nurse was unable to read her blood pressure, while staff assured her family she was doing well.
Michael said his 5-foot-6 sister weighed 111 pounds when she checked in, but had dropped to 83 pounds by the time of her cardiac arrest. The complaint alleges she was never seen by a nutritionist or dietitian during her stay.
Medical chart notes cited in the complaint describe a rapid deterioration. On day one, Willis refused medication and showed multiple withdrawal symptoms. By day three she was "disheveled, frail, disoriented" and had difficulty walking but refused hospitalization. By day five, notes allegedly described her as "anxious, distressed, barely eating, not showering or getting dressed and was experiencing aches, tremors, spasms and weakness."
On the ninth day, a nurse found Willis unresponsive and not breathing. The complaint says paramedics worked for nearly an hour before detecting a pulse. It took almost three weeks for her to emerge from the coma, by which time doctors said the brain damage from lack of oxygen was irreversible.
The complaint accuses Summit Malibu of admitting Willis "merely for profits" and states that "defendants failed to provide her the care she needed for her physical and mental symptoms." The rehab denies all allegations.
Settlement reached
A $3 million settlement was reached this July. After legal fees and other obligations, around $1.25 million remains in trust for Willis's ongoing care. Summit's parent company, Malibu Lighthouse Treatment Centers, does not admit any liability or wrongdoing.
Willis's own lawyer acknowledged in court filings that the case "was no slam dunk" and that no one knows exactly what happened before she stopped breathing. Michael said he still struggles with having no answers.
"That's what is so frustrating is that this didn't happen to her at home or anything. It happened under the care of medical professionals who were acting under California law as her legal guardians," he told the Daily Mail. He said online trolls, including some of Willis's former high school classmates, have mocked her since the complaint became public. "It's heartless because she can't defend herself," he said. "Maybe some people can't comprehend this kind of pain."
Moved to Mexico for care
Willis's mother, Yesenia, has since moved her daughter to Mexico, where she receives round-the-clock care from family at a relative's home. Yesenia believes her daughter remains aware of her condition even in semi-consciousness, saying she sometimes screams and kicks out of frustration.
Yesenia plans to buy a house in Mexico, where she has extended family support and nursing care is more affordable than in the United States. She also hopes to take Willis to Spain for experimental treatments that might help her move and eat unaided.
"They do things there that aren't available here. Maybe she can become more independent," Yesenia told the Daily Mail. Michael said he fears his mother will burn out from caring for his sister.
Life before Hollywood
Contrary to Willis's past claims that she was Argentinean, Michael revealed that she was actually born in Mexico, where their mother also grew up. Her biological father was not in the picture; her mother was raising her alone when she met Michael Cooper Sr, an American visiting Mexico. He never adopted Willis but raised her alongside Michael Jr, who was born when his half-sister was three.
The family moved to Utah in 2005 and secured US citizenship, eventually settling in the small town of Fillmore, which Michael described as "the middle of nowhere." He said his sister was "always independent," taking a job at a burger restaurant at age 14 to buy her first smartphone.
Their parents separated when Michael was 13 and Willis was 16, and the family moved to St George in southern Utah, where Willis would drive her brother to school in a battered green Pontiac Grand Am. "It was ugly, but she loved it," he said.
Rise in the adult film industry
Willis left home at 17 and moved to Los Angeles, where she entered the adult film industry. By 2022 she had amassed around 450,000 likes on OnlyFans. She was generous with her earnings, offering to pay for her brother's college education, though he turned her down.
"She was the most generous person ever, trying to take care of the people she loved - my mom, my dad and me. We never asked her for money. We just loved her for who she was," Michael said.
Her father, Mike Cooper Sr, who now lives on a farm in Missouri, said it took him time to accept his daughter's career. "I didn't like what she was doing, but instead of trying to criticize her and lose her, I kind of embraced her so she didn't push me away," he told the Daily Mail. "Nobody wants their daughter to do that. People will criticize, but they'll watch somebody else's daughter doing that, no problem."
Michael and his sister remained close, speaking on the phone several times a week and taking trips to amusement parks and Hawaii together. "It was me and her against the world. That was something we'd always say," he said. Willis had also spoken about attending acting school or leaving the adult film industry to study psychology. "We'd talk to her, try to help her, urging her to move out of Hollywood and those influences and come closer to us," Michael said.
Escalating addiction
In the year before her January 2024 admission to rehab, legal records state Willis had been taking five to six grams of ketamine a day. A single gram is enough to tranquilize a horse.
More than $120,000 has been raised for Willis's care through a GoFundMe campaign. "People have already been very generous," Michael said. "But if anyone feels inclined to keep giving her the best quality of life possible, it would be more than appreciated."
A sign of hope
More than two and a half years on, Michael said one small gesture keeps him hopeful that his sister is still aware. "Sometimes I'll blow her a kiss and she'll sort of pucker her lips like she's blowing one back," he said. "It's a struggle for her, and it doesn't always happen. But it has me thinking she's in there."
