British Actress Natasha Richardson has died

[SnoBrdr]

MONTREAL – British actress Natasha Richardson is in critical condition in a Montreal hospital after being severely injured in a skiing accident in Quebec, according to published reports.

People.com and IrishCentral.com reported that the Tony award-winning actress and wife of Liam Neeson suffered a head injury Monday and is in a Montreal hospital.

People.com said Richardson was initially taken to a hospital near the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, and was later transferred to the Montreal hospital.

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."

Richardson, 45, is the elder daughter of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson, and belongs to a British acting dynasty.

She married Neeson in 1994, and the couple has two sons.

[HelmetCam]

Seeing reports that she died.

Supposedly fell on a green trail while taking a lesson, was not wearing a helmet and didn't hit anything but the snow.

[Highway Star]

Seeing reports that she died.

Supposedly fell on a green trail while taking a lesson, was not wearing a helmet and didn't hit anything but the snow.

Sounds like internet rumor...

[SnoBrdr]

Seeing reports that she died.

Supposedly fell on a green trail while taking a lesson, was not wearing a helmet and didn't hit anything but the snow.

Sounds like internet rumor...

As of 1:45 PM EST she has not died.

Richardson fell on a beginners' trail Monday during a lesson at Station Mont Tremblant, said the statement from the resort, located about 80 miles northwest of Montreal.

At the time, Richardson was accompanied by a ski instructor, who called the ski patrol, the statement said. "She did not show any visible sign of injury, but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor."

Richardson, accompanied by the instructor, returned to her hotel, but about an hour after the fall, was "not feeling good," the statement said. An ambulance was called, and Richardson was taken to a local hospital before she was transferred to Hopital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal.

[HelmetCam]

Right on cue come the "Helmets may become mandatory" stories:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/trave ... atory.html

[SnoBrdr]

Right on cue come the "Helmets may become mandatory" stories:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/trave ... atory.html

I have advocated this for years.

Can't come soon enough.

[picnic]

Just heard on Fox, she's been declared brain dead and is being flown back to NYC where she will be taken off life support.
Sympathies to her family. Really sucks

[JerseyGuy]

Just heard on Fox, she's been declared brain dead and is being flown back to NYC where she will be taken off life support.
Sympathies to her family. Really sucks

Still conflicting reports -- looks like FauxNews may have picked up some bad info from the NY Post -- the newspaper version of Fox -- which got it from another source.

Bottom line: skiing deaths suck, and I'm really hoping she's OK. (Well, that and she's gorgeous, and it was be a horrible waste to die as the result of a bunny hill at Tremblant.)

[SuzyQ]

Its very rare to die on the bunny hill while taking a private lesson.
I have never heard of such a thing. It sounds like very bad luck to me.

[SkiDork]

before googling, it sounds fishy to me. The details don't sound like anything that would cause brain damage

[realreddy]

before googling, it sounds fishy to me. The details don't sound like anything that would cause brain damage

Current word is brain dead and on life support.

[Bubba]

before googling, it sounds fishy to me. The details don't sound like anything that would cause brain damage

If you fall and hit your head on the ground, that could be enough to cause trauma. It's kind of like when you see a car wreck and wonder how anyone could survive and you then learn that the occupant walked away with only scratches but see another accident where you assume nobody was seriously injured yet learn that someone died. Just a completely ignorant non-medical guess but she may have ruptured a blood vessel that then clotted and caused a stroke.

[DrJeff]

Its very rare to die on the bunny hill while taking a private lesson.
I have never heard of such a thing. It sounds like very bad luck to me.

A head hit is a head hit and can happen on the most gnarliest of expert trails or the easiest of bunny hills. You hit your head hard enough or in the right(wrong) way and a concussion or even a broken blood vessel isn't hard to do. Bad enough bleeding/swelling and pretty darn quick the building pressure can basically choke off the blood supply to your brain. The opening in the base of your skull that the blood supply enters/exits, along with your main trunk nerves is roughly an inch in diameter in most adults, and there isn't alot of extra room. Same thing inside of your skull, not alot of extra space, so if a blood vessel breaks, the extra pressure that builds up from basically blood leaking out of the vessels and into the skull and/or actually swelling of the brain due to a traumatic hit and quickly you're killing off brain tissue due to lack of oxygen rich blood supply. This is why sometimes you'll see on TV or hear about in head trauma cases neuro surgeons basically drilling vent holes in the skull as a way to relieve the stragling pressure on the brain by draining some fluid out of the skull.

I'm guessing that it was a pretty good head slap on the snow per the reports that the instructor quickly thought to bring her down the hill to be evaluated, even though she was supposedly talking and laughing afterwards.

[TheLurker]

Maybe the fall didn't cause the injury or physical ailment, but the ailment caused the fall. Perhaps she had a seizure that resulted in a fall.

[pcgrantham]

unbelievable what people say. from a slight injury to brain dead in 3 short internet reports.

Even though I am a advocate of the helmet, we have enough laws already, keep it optional. Darwin theory.