Gary Coleman's ex-wife says she found him in pool of blood

The ex-wife of former Diff'rent Strokes child star Gary Coleman, who died more than a week ago after suffering a brain hemorrhage, said she unexpectedly found him in "a pool of blood" at their home.

Shannon Price said in an interview with US television programme Good Morning America that aired on Monday that the 42-year-old Coleman disappeared downstairs at their home in Sataquin, Utah, before he was rushed to hospital.

"I asked him if he could make me some food and he went downstairs and I heard this big smack. I rushed down there and found him lying in a pool of blood," she said in the interview.   

Price also said the couple was divorced, had intended to remarry and was struggling with health and financial problems.

"We had a lot of disagreements but we loved each other, it was golden," she said.

After Coleman was taken to hospital, Price said doctors had advised her it was "the best thing for him" to turn off the life support machine he had been placed on at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

"The doctors advised me that it was grim and he went into cardiac arrest as well," she said.

The diminutive Coleman and Price have each been arrested for disorderly conduct after heated arguments in the past several years, according to local media reports.

Just this past January, Coleman was arrested in Utah on a charge of domestic violence. He and Price were secretly divorced in 2008, but Price said they were set to renew their vows.

Coleman also suffered legal and health troubles. In 1989, he sued his parents and former manager for mishandling his finances.

He played the role of Arnold in the hit TV sitcom when he was roughly 10 to 18 years old, and was diagnosed with a congenital kidney disease that halted his growth.