During the late 1990s, living alone in her flat, receiving disability
and help from the show business charity "The Water Rats", Lena was
convinced that her last hope was to have neurosurgery to deal with her
long time depression and anorexia. In Wales, at a Cardiff hospital, she underwent a psychosurgical operation. The operation involved inserting a probe into the brain to sever nerve
pathways that control emotion. Lena was just 4' 10" tall and had
battled anorexia nervosa since age 13, and felt she could not live with
the increasing suffering. She felt depersonalized, with no future. On 7 September 1999, she underwent the surgery, but only three weeks later developed a chest infection and died from bronchial pneumonia.
Dr. Lawrence Addicott recorded a verdict of death by "natural causes".
