Natasha Richardson

[Melanie]

WOW! I was surprised just now to read that her situation was dire. How very sad and scary how it seemed to be nothing at first. :(

From People.com

Family Friend: 'There Is No Chance' for Natasha Richardson

As Natasha Richardson remains in a New York hospital, her family and friends have all but given up hope that she'll recover from a severe head injury.

"There is no chance," a family friend told PEOPLE on Tuesday night. "It is a fact that her heart is beating but she is brain dead."

Her dire condition – doctors described it to those close to Richardson as "leakage of blood between the brain and skull," the friend says – has the actress's family coming to grips with potentially having to make an unthinkably difficult decision. "It's not official yet," says the friend, "but they basically will detach her."

Richardson, 45, the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave, suffered a devastating head injury Monday while skiing on a beginner's slope outside Montreal during a trip with at least one of her two sons. Her husband, Liam Neeson, 56, raced from a Toronto movie set to be with her as she was hospitalized.

On Tuesday, a private jet brought them both to New York, where family and friends gathered for a vigil. Reps for the family have declined to comment on Richardson's medical condition.

[NotaGeek]

I have been following this story ... she is a great actress, it's SO sad and shows you how you never know what's going to happen.

[SBETigg]

I'm so sad for the family. What a sudden, shocking tragedy. I love Natasha's work as an actress. She's lovely, talented, and clearly well-loved. She'll be missed.

[DizneyRox]

Dead now..

[Magic Smiles]

Very sad news, but I have to wonder if her death was caused by the ski accident, or whether whatever caused her to die, actually caused the ski accident. All reports state that she was on an easy hill and seemed relatively fine right after the accident.

[PirateLover]

"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."

Tragic. :(

[RedSoxFan]

So very sad. Prayers for her family.:(

[SBETigg]

Very sad news, but I have to wonder if her death was caused by the ski accident, or whether whatever caused her to die, actually caused the ski accident. All reports state that she was on an easy hill and seemed relatively fine right after the accident.

I was watching the Today Show this morning. Dr. Nancy Snyderman explained how head injuries that seem harmless can kill. I don't think anyone's hiding anything sordid here. It's an important reminder that head injuries, even ones that seem minor, should be taken seriously.

[Polynesian Dweller]

I was watching the Today Show this morning. Dr. Nancy Snyderman explained how head injuries that seem harmless can kill. I don't think anyone's hiding anything sordid here. It's an important reminder that head injuries, even ones that seem minor, should be taken seriously.

Just for a little background, my professional career began as a Neuropsychologist working with brain injuries. The brain is far more fragile than most of us know and very minor injuries can cause a lot of trauma that doesn't show itself until sometime after the fall.

Its what makes this more all the more sad and tragic and my thoughts are with the family and hope they will be OK. Hopefully a positive can come from this through an increase in awareness of the need to take any blow to the head seriously.

A most sad and tragic accident.

[MNNHFLTX]

How very sad....I had not realized that her brain injury was that severe. :(

[LauraleeH]

That is so sad, I feel so bad for her family.

[citizensnoopy]

Very sad news, but I have to wonder if her death was caused by the ski accident, or whether whatever caused her to die, actually caused the ski accident. All reports state that she was on an easy hill and seemed relatively fine right after the accident.

With the type of brain injury that she had (epidural hematoma), patients typically appear normal immediately after the trauma. Shortly after (on the order of hours), their condition worsens very rapidly.

This is VERY sad news. I loved Natasha Richardson and have been feeling pretty bummed about her death for most of the day. :(

[coloradowendyl]

Ever since I heard this, I kept visualizing Liam Neesom's character in "Love Actually"...a widower with a young teen son! Very sad that life has imitated art! I cannot imagine the pain her family is enduring!

As the mother of two teen boys, my heart aches for her sons!
Wendy

[DisneyLandMomma]

Sooo very sad!! :( My thoughts go out to her family!!

[Melanie]

Ever since I heard this, I kept visualizing Liam Neesom's character in "Love Actually"...a widower with a young teen son! Very sad that life has imitated art! I cannot imagine the pain her family is enduring!

Wendy, that is so weird! I was just thinking the exact same thing.

This is so very, very tragic. :(

[Carol]

I have been just heartsick by this entire chain of events. The couple are clients at our animal hospital. They have 2 wonderful, and spoiled, dogs.

Natasha was always so down to earth and friendly when she'd come in for pet food or appointments.


Very sad day. :(

[murphy1]

Ever since I heard this, I kept visualizing Liam Neesom's character in "Love Actually"...a widower with a young teen son! Very sad that life has imitated art! I cannot imagine the pain her family is enduring!

Wendy

Me, too! Just a tragedy. I told my girls that she played the mom in the remake Parent Trap and they realized who she was. Many prayers to them, it just makes you realize that you don't know how long you really have and you have to live each day as it matters:( Carol, what you wrote is heartbreaking even moreso.

[Diznee4Me]

Ever since I heard this, I kept visualizing Liam Neesom's character in "Love Actually"...a widower with a young teen son! Very sad that life has imitated art! I cannot imagine the pain her family is enduring!

As the mother of two teen boys, my heart aches for her sons!
Wendy


That was one of the first things I thought of also. :(

[ibrowse17]

Ever since I heard this, I kept visualizing Liam Neesom's character in "Love Actually"...a widower with a young teen son! Very sad that life has imitated art! I cannot imagine the pain her family is enduring!

As the mother of two teen boys, my heart aches for her sons!
Wendy

Include me in that as well. DW and I really like that movie, and thought about that also. Very sorry for him and the entire family. Our thoughts are with them.:(

[TheDuckRocks]

Ever since I heard this, I kept visualizing Liam Neesom's character in "Love Actually"...a widower with a young teen son! Very sad that life has imitated art! I cannot imagine the pain her family is enduring!

As the mother of two teen boys, my heart aches for her sons!
Wendy

I too could not help but think of this. So very, very sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to this family at this terrible time for them.

[JanetMegan]

You know I was going to come post about this yesterday and I just didn't. It was just too downright sad. I mean just an odd thing.

[mjaclyn]

I feel SO terrible for the family. Somehow it seems worse when a loved one dies when on vacation or having fun...like those people I've read about who have died at WDW. I'm sure they NEVER thought a beginner's ski lesson could end that way. :-(

[brownie]

Very sad. Do most skiers wear helmets these days or are they still uncommon? It seems like a helmet may have helped to prevent the injury.

[LauraleeH]

Ever since I heard this, I kept visualizing Liam Neesom's character in "Love Actually"...a widower with a young teen son! Very sad that life has imitated art! I cannot imagine the pain her family is enduring!

As the mother of two teen boys, my heart aches for her sons!
Wendy
I've never seen that movie but I saw that it's supposed to be on tv tomorrow. It was scheduled prior to her death, it seems so ironic.

[FaithTrustPixieDust]

Very sad. Do most skiers wear helmets these days or are they still uncommon? It seems like a helmet may have helped to prevent the injury.

I see a lot of snowboarders wearing helmets, but not skiers. (unless they intend to do stunts, jumps, etc.) We just got back from a ski trip, and I took a tumble or two myself. I am still shocked and bewildered that this happened.

[Nascfan]

Very sad. My heart and prayers go out to Liam and her family.

[diz_girl]

I see a lot of snowboarders wearing helmets, but not skiers. (unless they intend to do stunts, jumps, etc.) We just got back from a ski trip, and I took a tumble or two myself. I am still shocked and bewildered that this happened.

I both ski and snowboard and I've been wearing a helmet for the past 5+ years. I don't do any stunts, I just like cruising down the slopes, not fast at all. I had a spill on a relatively easy slope in the Poconos, falling on my back with my head pointed downhill. My head snapped back and hit the slope too and I was glad that I was wearing my helmet. I just had a sore neck and my head didn't have any impact at all. I'm afraid to think how I would have fared without the helmet, as I probably would have had a concussion at a minimum.

A big problem with skiing on slopes on the East Coast is all of the ice, rather than the powder in the Rockies. When you fall, you land a lot harder than if you were on powder. The only place in the East where I've skiied on powder was Sugarloaf in Maine. When you fall, it's not hard at all, you just sink into the snow and don't hit anything solid.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her family, especially her husband and sons.

[MickeyMousse]

So very sad. :sad: Our prayers go out to her lovely family.

[TennesseeTink]

How sad!:( I feel so bad for all of her family. She seemed to be such a genuinely gracious and kind person, not to mention talented. It's a great loss for her family and I'll be praying for them.

[Magic Smiles]

Very sad. Do most skiers wear helmets these days or are they still uncommon? It seems like a helmet may have helped to prevent the injury.
A co-worker of mine was in Whister, BC in Feb 09 and he commented on his return. If you do NOT have a helmet, you look out of place, as most skiers/snowboarders out there wear helmets.

[Tinksalot]

What a horrible thing to happen. My heart goes out to her family and especially her 2 young sons.

[NotaGeek]

They announced the results of the autopsy ... she died from blunt force trauma to the head. Totally sad and horrible. Wear those helmets!

[LauraleeH]

I read an article earlier saying that a helmet would not have made a difference in her case. Still, it's always safer and smarter to wear one, and we'll always wonder "What if.."

[SBETigg]

I read an article earlier saying that a helmet would not have made a difference in her case. Still, it's always safer and smarter to wear one, and we'll always wonder "What if.."

That's odd. The cause was blunt force trauma to the head. If she'd been wearing a helmet, wouldn't that have protected from blunt force? It seems that it would have made a difference, but I have no idea. I do know a lot of skiers who don't wear helmets here in the Northeast.

I also read that immediate medical attention could have saved her. I can see why she didn't get it. If you can get up, walk (or ski) away, and joke, you think you're fine. Who wants to make a fuss? But I've learned that if head impact happens, I'm going to get attention. It's so sad.

[LauraleeH]

That's odd. The cause was blunt force trauma to the head. If she'd been wearing a helmet, wouldn't that have protected from blunt force? It seems that it would have made a difference, but I have no idea. I do know a lot of skiers who don't wear helmets here in the Northeast.

I also read that immediate medical attention could have saved her. I can see why she didn't get it. If you can get up, walk (or ski) away, and joke, you think you're fine. Who wants to make a fuss? But I've learned that if head impact happens, I'm going to get attention. It's so sad.
I read it from FoxNews. After her autopsy came out, they changed the story to "Maybe wouldn't have helped" but either way, I would rather be wearing a helmet.

[thrillme]

I really didn’t know who she was but…we too just got back from skiing and this really freaked me out a bit.

I feel AWFUL for her family. This was a “freak” accident. There have been a lot of people say the thing about if she had worn a helmet she most likely could have been fine.

This story really gnawed at me because we were in New Mexico and I can tell you that there were very few people that actually wore them. Of the incredibly SMALL handful that wore them they were “under 6” or they were snowboarders trying “tricks” in the “stunt” parks. I’m sure in Taos (we were in Anglefire), there were more that would wear the helmets because they were doing the highly “Advanced” runs. But really virtually NO ONE wore a helmet where "we" were. I was surprised at an earlier post that said EVERYBODY was wearing one. "Hats" yes helmets NO.

We didn’t wear helmets either. The three of us are novices and we tend to take it really slow. Are we dumb for not wearing a helmet…”most likely”…Are we going to wear them in the future…Probably not. At first my reaction was we’re ALL wearing helmets next time we go…then I took a deep breath and really started thinking about it.

“Probably Not”??!?!? Whatever am I thinking? Injuries can occur at ANY time. It doesn’t have to be “skiing”. I bumped my head quite hard TWICE during the trip. Neither time was when I was skiing. Once I bumped it getting in the car (I saw stars and had quite a lump) and another time I bumped it when I hit the dresser after falling out of bed (queen-sized bed and I managed to roll right out of it). Once I got home I tripped walking UP the stairs and my wedding ring just about ripped my knuckle off (I’ve just had the curse of clutzy lately).

There are times when a helmet most DEFINITELY is something you really must use because the risk is so great. Unfortunately it’s unreasonable to wear one ALL the time and sometimes…it’s just NOT always that huge of a risk. Injuries that you see from skiing are going to be more dangerous to limbs than the head (especially novice skiers on the green/blue slopes). Every sport carries risks (even golf…I once heard about a guy who was killed because a golfball hit him in the head). Sometimes it just happens.

My prayers are with her family.

[SBETigg]

“Probably Not”??!?!? Whatever am I thinking? Injuries can occur at ANY time. It doesn’t have to be “skiing”. I bumped my head quite hard TWICE during the trip. Neither time was when I was skiing. Once I bumped it getting in the car (I saw stars and had quite a lump) and another time I bumped it when I hit the dresser after falling out of bed (queen-sized bed and I managed to roll right out of it). Once I got home I tripped walking UP the stairs and my wedding ring just about ripped my knuckle off (I’ve just had the curse of clutzy lately).


Imagine if we started wearing helmets all the time because walking can be hazardous. I agree that this was kind of a freak thing and most skiers on beginner slopes probably aren't needing the helmets. But it does make you think.

[NotaGeek]

I think that beginning skiers WOULD be the person that need helmets ... especially at this time of year. With the melting and re-freezing lots of slopes are turning to ice ... I wouldn't doubt that resorts start requiring helmets for everyone at some point.

It's not like requiring helmets for everyone all the time ... in this specific instance it would be for people performing an action sport, not just someone talking a stroll down the sidewalk in their hometown.

I found an article from last year citing 17 deaths on Colorado slopes for skiers and snowboarders during last season alone ... that's definitely not a freak accident -- that's a lot of people in 1 area alone.

[SBETigg]

You're probably right, Michael, but I can't see it happening much. People reason that the probability that something like this will happen is still pretty low. If I were a skier, I would probably wear a helmet.

Most of our town's middle school population bikes to school, and most of those kids don't even wear helmets. I raised the issue to the principal when my son was in middle school and she made a statement that kids should wear helmets, but no one checked or made it mandatory. My son refused to wear one, because it wasn't "cool" and we took away his bike privileges. In that case, the probability is higher that something bad can happen. The most common cause of death in children under twelve was said to be bike injuries that year, not sure if it still is. But it astounds me to see kids riding without helmets, especially this week with the news.

[NotaGeek]

You're probably right, Michael, but I can't see it happening much. People reason that the probability that something like this will happen is still pretty low. If I were a skier, I would probably wear a helmet.

Most of our town's middle school population bikes to school, and most of those kids don't even wear helmets. I raised the issue to the principal when my son was in middle school and she made a statement that kids should wear helmets, but no one checked or made it mandatory. My son refused to wear one, because it wasn't "cool" and we took away his bike privileges. In that case, the probability is higher that something bad can happen. The most common cause of death in children under twelve was said to be bike injuries that year, not sure if it still is. But it astounds me to see kids riding without helmets, especially this week with the news.
Good for you Sherri ... tough moms have good kids. Or at least safe kids. :thumbsup:

[yjgirl32]

My prayers go out to the family. It is a very freaky accident and makes you think. The #1 rule in my family is to always say I love you and always give hugs and kisses. Also when my ds5 rides his bike he always wears a helmet and he's only been skiing once and he wore a helmet then too.

[Magic Smiles]

But really virtually NO ONE wore a helmet where "we" were. I was surprised at an earlier post that said EVERYBODY was wearing one. "Hats" yes helmets NO.


No it was HELMETS not hats that my co-worker was referring to about skiing in Whistler, BC. As he said, you are the oddball, if you do NOT have a helmet on.
Also when my son goes snowboarding, it is mandatory that they wear helmets in certain areas.

[ASweetLov]

This is very sad news. My heart goes out to her family :(

[murphy1]

Man, last night on Encore on cable they had The Parent Trap on. I started bawling. She was so beautiful and sweet even moreso in that movie.