Natasha Richardson Ski Accident (UPDATE: Actress Dies From Injuries)

UPDATE 3/18 8:16PM Natasha Richardson has died at the age of 45. The family released this statement:

Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.

UPDATE 3/18: There are reports Richardson is brain dead and being removed from life support

UPDATE TUESDAY AT NOON:
Frightening new details surrounding Richardson's ski accident:

Richardson, 45, was not wearing a ski helmet when she was taking a private ski lesson on the Nansen, a beginners' run at Mont Tremblant, she added.

Richardson, wife of actor Liam Neeson and daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave, was at the bottom of the run, in what is known as the flats, during the mid-afternoon lesson when she fell and tumbled down the hill...

She did not hit anyone or anything before coming to a stop. The ski instructor was by her side within seconds, Lacasse said.

There was no external sign of injury, no cut or bleeding, Lacasse said.

Two ski patrollers assisted Richardson but she was not put on a stretcher, Lacasse said. Richardson walked to her room at the resort's Quintessence Hotel, where she had been staying since Sunday.

The patrollers stayed with her for an hour. She started having headaches and she was transported to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien.

Story continues below

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UPDATE TUESDAY MORNING:

Liam Neeson has rushed to his wife Natasha Richardson's side in Canada:

"Liam Neeson left the Toronto set immediately to fly to Montreal upon news of his wife's accident," a rep for his film Chloe said in a statement to Canadian TV. "We do not have any details at this time but we hope for the best and our thoughts and prayers are with Natasha and Liam and their family."

And from the AP:

A family member confirmed Richardson had had a skiing accident.

"We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details," said Kika Markham, who is married to Richardson's uncle, Corin Redgrave. "We are very concerned."

LATE MONDAY NIGHT:
Actress Natasha Richardson, daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and wife of actor Liam Neeson, has been injured in a tragic ski accident in Canada, according to several reports.

A source initially told IrishCentral.com that Richardson's injury is critical:

Richardson, who was set to co-star with her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, in a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," was apparently injured in a tragic ski accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury.It is not known whether Neeson is at his wife's side.

People magazine confirmed the unfortunate news:

Actress Natasha Richardson was hospitalized on Monday afternoon in Montréal after suffering a serious head injury, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The Tony-winning star, 45, was first brought to Centre Hospitalier Laurentien near Mont Tremblant, a famed ski area, following a skiing accident. At 5 p.m. she was transferred to Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal.

Ruchardson's accident has also been reported in several British news agencies, according to the Montreal Gazette.

Comments

[inorbit]

The light of a Broadway star has gone out...

but another star has brightened in heaven.

Natasha was a wonderful actress and a beautiful woman in everyway....

My deepest condolences to her family.

[Saidso]

I'm so sorry for her family. Never let a day go by without telling those you love how much you appreciate their presence in your life.

[ZackShorty]

My condolences to the family also. It is never easy for anyone to lose a loved one, regardless of their age. Realize though that since this accident was first reported, thousands of unknown people have died of head injuries around the Planet. Does anyone posting here care for them or their loved ones? Of course not.

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

NATASHA RICHARDSON


Girl Just Wanted to Have Fun

Death of Innocence

Appreciate Life

Stop War

[myopinion111]

What a very sad story. Condolences to Natasha's whole family, especially her boys. Head injuries are so random. What barely affects one person can kill another. There is no guarantee that a helmet would have saved her.

[guruglenn]

Very unfortunate circumstance indeed. My prayers go out to her family in their time of need. The moral of the story is one never knows when the time has come to an end. I believe the point here is to really take advantage of the time you had.

All the good things I have heard from the people who knew her tells me she touched many people in a very good way. Many blessings to her.

Glenn Smith Author of Lotus Petal, A Parable to Help You to Overcome The Fear of Death
http://lotuspetalbook.com

[lisakaz2]

I'm broken up about it myself. I can't imagine how the family feels. I hope they find out why it happened so that her boys take precautions any any biological issue that contributed to her death.

[eliza7beth]

Hey, "slapmewhenitsover" and "mmz" -

Nope, I didn't wear a helmet when mopping my floor a few years ago. Kind of wish I had though, after I bumped my head on a low-hanging chandelier, when I moved a table to mop. It hurt like hell, but I felt fine minutes later. 4 weeks later I was rushed to emergency surgery for bleeding on the brain - I'd broken some tiny blood vessels which had bled slowly for weeks. I'd had a nagging headache for weeks, but assumed it was spring pollen allergies. It was only a fluke that I woke to an excruciating headache and decided to drive to an ER/trauma center just blocks from my house. The neurologist in the ER, looking at the CT scans said, "I've never seen scans like this for someone who wasn't comatose."
I was hospitalized for over a month, was months more in recovery, and still struggle with memory issues. But I feel very fortunate to be alive.

But hell yeah, I DO consider a helmet every time I mop a floor, walk out my front door and see ice on the steps or driveway or dozens of other everyday activities. My neurosurgeon told me people die every day from MINOR head injuries - so I view life as much more precious now. Skiing? For me, just not worth it.

[eliza7beth]

-What a bunch of idiots posting here! Why on earth is it "blaming the victim" to simply say, "hey, wearing a helmet when skiing is a good idea." And all you who feel you're bullet-proof and are more afraid of looking stupid in a helmet than lying brain dead surrounded by grieving family - go right ahead. But I feel very sorry for the people who love you.
No one's "blaming" Ms. Richardson for her own tragic death - it'd just be nice if this horrific tragedy did SOME good by illustrating how important it is to protect our wonderful but fragile brains.

[lisakaz2]

I don't know if that's the issue, frankly. I mean, I've hit my head but good many times in my life, as a child as well as an adult. I've crack into a solid wood door, hard-pack snow/ice, a TV screen (the old kind) and a wood cutting board (I now have balance issues likely related to lyme disease so I'm not skiing). I've been stunned a few times and have had headaches but nothing else. I wonder if certain people have a propensity to the type of injury that Ms. Richardson developed. I mean, why her and not me? I'm very glad someone is doing an autopsy. I heard one neurological doc say a helmet might not have done anything since it wasn't an external injury. Her children need to know in case there is something genetic involved that made her prone to what happened.

[berrycooda]

How sad....

We never know how our lives can change in just a second.

Prayers are with her family and friends at this most sorrowful time for them.

[AngieMom57]

Yes, agree.

[fif]

I am so saddened by this. It is a reminder to all of us that anything can happen at anytime, and to live for the moment. I wish the best for her family--they must be in such pain.

[ZackShorty]

If you are really afraid of dying, and it sounds like many people are, stay at home on your E-Z chair and never venture out side. Sadly, and this could be a shocker, but one day you are going to die anyway. Probably from lack of exercise, or forgetting to put your helmet on before entering the bath tub. I don't know the statistics, but I would bet that more people die from slipping and falling in their bath rooms, than die on ski slopes. Anyway, try to stay safe, and enjoy life at the same time.

[PoliticalAmazon]

I agree. Death happens, and if it wasn't for death we wouldn't so cherish life.

But I don't know of one religion that doesn't believe that there is life after death. Even practical people that don't believe in the idea of life after death will agree that when one dies, one truly becomes part of our living planet.

Whether it's ashes or the body that is returned to earth, the microbes soon incorporate it into their bodies, worms incorporate the microbes, a robin eats the worm, and when you look up into the sky and see a hawk, you can wonder, "Is that hawk alive because of the death of my loved one?"

This concept has brought peace to me at times when I still miss my parents.

[rckayla]

One night I was just putting my grocery bags into my car's trunk -- it happened to be a very windy night that night -- when all of a sudden the trunk slammed down on my head. Passersby who heard it said "OUCH! ARE YOU OKAY?" and ran over to help me. But I figured since there was no outward bleeding, cut or injury of any kind 'visible' that I would be okay. However, soon after getting home I started to feel nauseous and light headed (no headache, just nausea and light headedness) and called my doctor the next day so that he could check if I really was okay. Turns out, my doctor felt around in my scalp then said it was just a "bone bruise." So what happened to Natasha Richardson was just a freak accident and may have happened to her, helmet or no helmet. But the ski patrollers should have immediately taken her to the ER rather than waiting until her headaches became excriating...

[PoliticalAmazon]

It sounds like it wouldn't have helped because the injury (which sounds like was dramatically worsened by a preexisting condition) may not have shown up immediately on scanning.

Many of us carry unknown anatomical issues that will result in death or severe injury from a simple injury that would not have caused death or injury otherwise. It's nobody's fault. It's the luck of the genetic hand we are dealt, or how cells divide at a certain point in our development as a fetus.

By all acounts, she lived a great life, was a kind and compassionate person, loved her husband, two sons, and family. Her husband has their sons as living embodiments of Richardson.

It was no one's fault. Two or more conditions (fall and preexisting anatomical anomaly) combined to lead to her death.

[mombabytiger]

I used to ski and I never wore a helmet and I never saw anyone wearing one either. I never wore a helmet when I rode my bike as a child. Now children routinely wear them. If doing something as simple as that can save your life, then all to the good. But it wouldn't occur to most of us to do so.

[Lovelydaze]

I also LOVE diahni's analogy to all the "Well we are gonna die anyway" folks.

Just because we can die "at any time" we should now stop wearing seat belts, watching our step
on icy porches, or slowing down on dangerous curves.

This poor woman felt going down that hill would be safe. This shouldn't happen to anyone. Ever.