Natasha Richardson reportedly critically injured in skiing accident near Montreal

[Doc Holliday]

Actress Natasha Richardson, best known for roles in The Parent Trap (1998), Nell (1994), and Maid in Manhattan (2002), was admitted to a Montreal hospital Monday following a skiing accident. People.com confirms that the actress, wife of actor Liam Neeson and daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave, was first admitted to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien following a skiing accident in the Mont Tremblant resort area. At 5 p.m. she was transferred to Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, reportedly having suffered a traumatic brain injury. The accident was first reported by IrishCentral.com, which claimed that their source was an insider at a Montreal hospital. Neeson’s spokesperson, Alan Nierob, said he had not been able to reach the actor and could not confirm the reports. Calls and emails to Richardson's talent agency, CAA, were not returned, presumably due to the late hour. The 45-year-old mother of two, who won a Tony Award in 1999 for her performance as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, was said to be in talks to co-star with her acting legend mother in a revival of the Sondheim musical A Little Night Music on Broadway.

http://breaking-news.ew.com/2009/03/natasha-richard.html

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Trav...real+after+skiing+accident/1395988/story.html

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

is Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal the best hospital in Quebec?

she might have a Subdural hematoma,blood pressing on the brain.
they say after the accident she seemed fine and she insisted on not going to the hospital.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Natasha-Richardson-near-death-after-ski-accident-41340947.html

if its the same as what keith richards had,
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/rolling.html
they will drill a hole into her skull to relieve the pressure.
chances are good she will recover 100%

 

[FaceMaster]

Morris,

I don’t know about the best but they do specialize in accidents and trauma situations.

 

[Techman]

Two new conflicting reports, one saying that she has been transported to the US for medical care and another stating that she has died as a result of her injuries.

Correction: unconfirmed reports are saying that she is brain dead, not that she has died.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

i am only guessing that its a head injury,
drilling the hole into the skull is probably something that hospital has experts in doing and is really not too complicated.

if she has other internal injuries,
then that is much more complicated especially if they cant stop the bleeding.

 

[La Femme]

She is said to be brain dead.

I hope it's only a rumor.

I've always liked her and Liam Neeson.

 

[Techman]

TMZ is posting regular updates on her condition, as much information as they are able to get anyways.

UPDATE 2:00 PM ET -- The hospital tells TMZ Richardson is sedated and suffering from brain swelling -- but is not brain dead.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

boston has some great hospitals besides nyc.
they might take her there.

if the internet stories of her being brain dead are untrue which i will bet a small amount that they are untrue,
and she "just" has Subdural hematoma and her vitals are stable and controllable,
then they dont have to operate ASAP,they have time to choose where and who will do the operation and where she will recuperate.
if she really is brain dead,then everything else is futile.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I find it very odd that she'd be flown away from Mtl this quickly if her condition was as severe as rumoured to be. I doubt any US hospital could do much more for her than what has already been done at this Mtl hospital, but i could be wrong. I figured either she's brain dead & there's not much more they can do for her, or she's stable enough for being transferred out. If not, i believe the best place for her right now would have been in a hospital bed with some of the country's best doctors instead of being flown out.

I wish her well.....she & Liam appear to be very decent people & the family closely-knit, which is somewhat a rarity in showbusiness.

 

[Techman]

I agree with you, Doc. It is strange that she was rushed out of Montreal so fast! I'm wondering if they may have discovered some unknown pre-existing condition that led to the complications from what from all accounts have said was a very minor fall on the ski hill.

I guess we will know much more in the coming days but I hope that everything turns out well for her and her family.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I'm wondering if they may have discovered some unknown pre-existing condition that led to the complications from what from all accounts have said was a very minor fall on the ski hill.

I'm wondering if she hadn't suffered some type of head injury prior to her ski trip. It reminded me of what happened to Bret "Hitman" Hart a few years ago. He was simply riding on his bicycle & it tipped over after hitting a rock. He wasn't wearing a helmet & his head hit the ground, not that hard. He never lost consciousness & actually felt very stupid about the incident. Next thing you know, he couldn't get up & could barely speak. He couldn't move one side of his body. He had suffered a stroke. Turns out he had suffered a high degree concussion just few weeks/months earlier & hadn't fully recovered from its effects. This only intensified the head injury. He underwent intense rehab over a year & was finally able to be productive again. He still isn't 100% back to what he once was.

 

[Techman]

I remember that happening with Bret hart. He hadn't fully recovered from the concusion resulting from the careless kick to the head from Bill Goldberg. That kick ended his wrestling career. A sad end to a great career. Wrestling With Shadows is an amazing documentary into pro wrestling that people should check out if they haven't seen it.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I remember that happening with Bret hart. He hadn't fully recovered from the concusion resulting from the careless kick to the head from Bill Goldberg. That kick ended his wrestling career. A sad end to a great career. Wrestling With Shadows is an amazing documentary into pro wrestling that people should check out if they haven't seen it.

Well, the kick caused another concussion. His last concussions hadn't been diagnosed & he was told to keep on wrestling. What actually ended his career was the stroke & resulting paralysis. Anyways, you know what i mean....

Wrestling with Shadows is an absolutely amazing inside look on the world of professional wrestling. But i'd also recommend a recent boxed set on Bret Hart's life that was released less than a year ago. I bought it immediately after i finished reading his autobiography & don't regret it one bit. Hart is telling his story (much of it was told in the book) and there's some stuff on Owen Hart, his late brother. There are also a few matches back from the old days & not too distant ones also. Also a lot of stuff about his family, including Davey Boy Smith & Jim The Anvil Niedhart, etc......his family is quite dysfunctional & the Harts have been feuding for years.

 

[metoo4]

I read this morning she had a headache after the fall. They are also saying the headache wasn't related to the fall at all. Maybe she had an anevrism and the fall was the straw that blew it up? They also said she was now brain-dead and the family was going to issue a statement today.

 

[hormone]

According to papers and a speaking with neuro-surgeon friend of mine (not involved in Mrs Richardson, but he can comment from what he reads...):

Sounds like her fall was a light one, not even a concussion... She fell because of a malaise... She had a bad headache after... and then went into coma. This is usual for bursting an aneurysm, which makes you fall (and does not burst ass a result fo the fall), get a headache and worsen in the next hours as you either re-bleed or continue bleeding into your brain...

The death rate of bursting an aneurysm is about 50% from what my friend tells me... scary high! If you go into coma from the bleeding, the death rate is even higher he says... Now she is brain dead, confrimed by hospital spokesperson-- a news which would not be released lightly-- so there is no hope of any recovery. There are specific criteria to determine brain death...

Unlikely she would have gotten a real bad bleeding into her head--enough to cause her going into coma, and brain death-- from simply falling down and hitting her head on the snow at low speed, unless she was into a big collision (her or someone else going fast, running into a chairlift metal post, etc). Or unless she has some kind of bleeding disorded, like hemophilia-- in which case she would have known about it before.

They transported her back to NYC so her family could be at her bedside and decide if they want to stop life support- respirator. If she is brain dead, she will die of this. Maybe they are thinking about donating her organs?

Sacre Coeur is one of 2 Montreal major trauma centers. Which is why she was sent there, as it is in the north of the city, closer to Tremblant and the hospitals in that area. The other one is the Montreal General Hospital, which covers the south shore and eastern townhips --Bromont, Sutton, etc...

 

[Techman]

News from TMZ:

Liam Neeson and his family have just released the following statement about the passing of Natasha Richardson:

"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."

Very sad news.

From MSN: http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20090317%2ffamily_Richardson_090318

 

[Possum Trot]

Sad for the kids and a bit scarey given that the reports indicated a minor fall. Wonder if they are required to do an autopsy to determine what exactly happened ?

 

[metoo4]

Of course a helmet wouldn't have made the injuries worst. Rumors has it that she got dizzy and that's what caused the fall.

As I said before, the fall might have triggered a latent, ready-to-burst anevrism to burst immediately. Or the fall didn't play any role and the dammage was already there, or the fall might be all there is to it. Only an autopsy and interviews with witnesses will tell the entire story.

In Québec, any death who happen in unusual conditions mandates an autopsy automatically so yes, if the body was still in Québec, an autopsy would be performed. Since the death occured in a NY hospital, the law downthere will be followed.

IMHO, with a death like this, as a family member, I would still ask for an autopsy, required by law or not. Considering some ACV problems can be hereditary, it's good to know what happened.

 

[Techman]

According to TMZ the autopsy is being done right now and results should be released at the end of the day.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/03/19/natasha-richardson-autopsy-under-way/

The New York City medical examiner's office is currently performing an autopsy on Natasha Richardson, this according to the Associated Press.

According to the ME, results will be made available later today

.

 

[Turbodick]

Helmet! How dumb to have been skiing without one.

Non-skiers will say, the helmet would not have helped and I say it wouldn't have hurt and certainly may have helped.

Any beginner skier could tell you their main concern with a fall, the instant after losing control, is a painful fracture or damage to the face and head.

A helmet, which holds your goggles in place protects over 75% of your head against cuts and bruises.

That allows you to concentrate on cushioning the fall with your hands which would otherwise be covering your head... it's like a F1 race car body which is sacrificed to protect the driver in a collision.

I'm a beginner skier this year and I've always been more worried about breaking a leg. There was some talk earlier about helmets being considered mandatory in Ontario and really since they keep your head warm not a bad idea.