Posted on 03/18/2009 7:08:04 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
Miss Richardson, part of the Redgrave acting dynasty, fell on a beginners' slope in Canada on Monday afternoon.
The actress, who was not wearing a helmet, initially appeared to be unhurt, but an hour after the fall she was taken to a local hospital after complaining of feeling unwell. She was later transferred to intensive care at a hospital 75 miles away in Montreal.
Miss Richardson was later flown via private jet to a specialist medical facility in New York at the request of her family, a spokesman for the Sacre-Coeur hospital in Montreal said. She was accompanied by her husband, the Irish actor Liam Neeson, 56, who had been filming in Toronto.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
As an aside, I do wonder about the editors of this article.
Neeson and Miss Richardson, who have been married since 1994, have two sons, Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12.
Last time I heard, a married woman is styled "Mrs." or "Ms." depending on whether or not she cares to confirm her status as married via her title, but that the use of the style "Miss" is specifically reserved for unmarried women.
I think that people in England and Ireland who can afford it get private health insurance. I believe they also get stuck with National Health Care premiums, but they just don’t use it.
The peons who can’t afford good health care get stuck paying and using National Health Care.
Apparently the fall itself wasn’t serious. I notice no one has suggested the possibility that she’d had a brain aneurism or something similar which could have caused her fall. Whatever happened though, it’s tragic for one so young.
You could not be more right. Unfortunately, the folks you write about probably do not have a lot of life experiences or are just mean to others. I have watched friends of varying political stripes die of cancer. Recently, I attended the funeral of a Vietnam vet who did not make funeral plans so some of us felt obligated to contribute to his burial costs (girlfriend didn’t want a military burial). All very sad.
Natasha Richardson is a naturalized American citizen. The ski resort she was at is in a small town without the medical facilities of larger cities (you could probably say the same for ski resorts like Copper Mountain in this country). Although a large city by Canadian standards, Montreal is relatively small compared to New York City. Finally, you’re right to believe she was transported to the US to be with family before her end.
It’s so sad for her two young sons. I have a boy the same age and it’s such a tough age. I cannot imagine the pain of loosing a parent on top of it. prayers for the family.
What a horrible accident - something that seemed so minor to turn into this -
“Miss” is still used by some for actresses who retain their maiden names.
I agree with what you say, WIATGIP. I’m just not sure that this is the forum for it. I was engaged once to a Canadian who turned out to be sick. He had at one time been a doctor and I heard the Canadian health horror stories. He also came frequently to the US and paid for his own health care—and he had ties to the health establishment up there.
I do very sorry for this family. I didn’t realize who she was until this. I loved her in Parent Trap and had no idea she was a member of the Redgrave family. What a tragedy. I once saw a man fall off a bike while going relatively slowly. He died of head injuries the next morning. It’s very sad.
Unfortunately they are just bringing her home to be near family since it appears there is nothing more that can be done.
By the way, look up Joely Richardson - her sister - I didn't realize they were sisters before seeing it on the thread yesterday. Very talented family.
My daughter, who was only a few weeks past her 5th birthday when her mother died, doesn’t even remember a time when her “birth mom” wasn't ill.
I did. Actually, I had never heard of Joely Richardson. I’m just revealing my ignorance. Yes, a very talented family.
Full Disclosure:
I played ice hockey before there were helmets and masks (or curved sticks).
I competed in bicycle road races before there were helmets.
I played racquetball and squash before goggles were required.
I played baseball before there were earpieces on batting helmets, and before catchers wore helmets under the mask.
My family contains three generations of avid skiers and snowboarders. The participation of my generation and the one prior predates skiing helmets.
I do not quite make it back to the days of leather helmets for flying and football. However, my Navy flying career started before the modern, custom fitted helmets of today and as a lineman, my football helmets did not have a full cage facemask until late in high school.
I HATED helmets (and with the exception of the form fit flight helmets) all of the improvements when they were introduced.
I survived my own stupidity and now actively seek out the latest and best head, face, and eye, protection for all of my recreational activities.
What many fail to realize is that the advances in technology of the equipment enable all of us to go faster, farther, higher, and harder, than the equipment “back in the day.”
As an example, I never faced metal bats on a downsized infield with 60 foot base paths in Little League. With a modern lightweight metal bat, even the most incompetent hitter can get lucky and fire a very dangerous line drive right up the box at the pitcher. The foul tips come off harder and tricker as well.
I routinely ride faster training rides today on a mid-grade racing bicycle, then I could have competed on a then state of the art bike 35 years ago.
My 180 cm length sidecut skis enable me to attempt terrain and lines down the mountain that would have been impossible on my 210 cm racing skis when I was much younger, more competitive, and more foolish. Improvements in snow making and grooming equipment ensure that conditions on average are much faster (and safer) then they were when I started skiing.
My hockey shots are much faster with a modern, laminated, composite, curved stick then they ever were with a straight wooden stick.
To all who read this thread, my appeal is that, regardless of the laws and rules; you and your loved ones will seek out and use the best available head, face, and eye protection when you engage in these kinds of activities.
I have attended far too many funerals (including two in the past six months for children) of my fellow recreational enthusiasts and their family members who didn’t wear helmets.
I’m sorry for your loss and I think you’re probably right. I married my husband after he lost his wife of 23 years to cancer. When I married him, his son was 19, but he had gone through 8 years of his mother’s illness, never knowing if she would live or die. It’s hard and I believe he still wears the scars. However, life is very difficult, more so for some than for others. Many people have to bear burdens and make decisions for themselves that will enable them to come through it. I hope that your children can find the way to do that. As you say, it isn’t easy.
Perhaps that's true, but just after the accident, I saw an interview with Fox's medical expert and he described the various injuries and indicated that most are very easy to treat within a certain amount of time. He seemed bewildered by the description of the accident and her outcome. Unless her brain was specifically torn, the swelling is all treatable. I guess we'll know more later.
Very sad. Life is fleeting - best be ready to stand before God to give an account of your life.
Prayers for a great actress and for her family. I can't imagine what they're going through.
It’s very sad. I want to know how this happened, on a Bunny Trail of all places. Will the media report on why she was taken to NYC and not a hospital in Canada?
Remember her mother: From a link on Drudge:
“Her childhood was spent between her father’s glamorous, bohemian life in Paris and California, and her mother’s house, which was always full of Workers’ Revolutionary Party members.
Considered one of the most respected actresses of her generation, Vanessa is also known for her political activism, having campaigned against the Vietnam war, for nuclear disarmament and for the Palestinian cause.
At 72, she remains a committed Marxist, and in 2007 it emerged that she had paid £40,000 bail for former Guantanamo Bay detainee Jamil el-Banna. “
Well put.
I heard that interview too and wondered if the Dr was saying without saying that if they had been able to treat her in the emergency faster than it must’ve happened that she might be recovering now instead of where she is?
But it's not terribly likely a helmet would have helped Ms. Richardson in this case.
The injury she sustained would have occurred inside a helmet as well, wouldn't it have? The momentum of her brain crashing against her skull when coming to an abrupt stop from high speed would not have been cushioned by a helmet cradling the outside of her skull.
A ski helmet helps minimize/prevent the severity of external injuries - lacerations & outer concussions but probably doesn't do much for the stuff going on inside with soft brain tissue being violently jerked against hard bone.
There's also the (purely speculative) chance she had an undiagnosed pre-existing aneurism which was ripped open by the sudden stop. A helmet wouldn't have done much to prevent that.
Again, don't misunderstand, I agree with you on helmets & I'm grateful you made your post. I'm a cyclist who's had a very close call riding while stupid myself. (Famous last words: I'm only going three blocks!) Any situation which presents even the remote possibility of head meeting hard stuff sensibly requires the use of a helmet.
Sorry to say, it just wouldn't have helped Mrs. Neeson in this particular case, I don't think.
Reminds me of a very old joke:
How long is the waiting list for an abortion in Poland ? 10 months.
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