Actually not terribly uncommon. The London Telegraph, I think, posted an article yesterday where an expert called it ‘Talk and Die’. People bang their heads sharply, shake it off, say they’re fine, carry on normally enough for an hour or so... then severe headache, followed by unconsciousness and death.
Natasha’s fall must have caused some kind of bleed in her head. I think the key to survival of this type of accident is quick medical attention, which poor Natasha didn’t think was warranted. She thought she was fine. I might have thought the same if it had been me. I wouldn’t have wanted to make a big fuss out of what I perceived as my own silly clumsiness.
Really a horrible. horrible tragedy. I feel really sorry for her husband and sons. I’m not really a big show biz/celebrity follower. But, I knew of her due to Parent Trap 2, which I watched with my daughter a million times. I thought she was such a lovely woman. Her husband seemed devoted to her, and together they produced two handsome sons. I pray for them this evening, and that the love of their family and friends will be a comfort to them.
Keep your loved ones real close to you folks. None of us knows when our time will come. It might come in the blink of an eye as it did for Natasha Richardson. Be certain everything has been said that needs to be said. Our lives are just a vapor, one minute here... then eternity is upon us.
pattyjo
A little over a month ago our son was attacked from behind by a gang of seven near his fraternity house. One of the assailants whom he doesn’t know and who we’ve since found out practices martial arts, punched my son in the head rendering him unconscious and he fell to the ground. The other guys took turns kicking my son in the head and upper body for several minutes according to a witness (yes, who did nothing to stop it). The police found my son lying on the sidewalk in a puddle of his own blood. He was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. They released him too soon for my liking as he still didn’t have memory of some peoples names or voices or faces. My sister in law who is a doctor told me of these slow bleeds called “contusions” which are more dangerous than concussions because a concussion will show up on the CT scan right away whereas the contusion may bleed slowly for days or weeks and the person may be in trouble without knowing it. That’s my son’s story. I believe he came to within one kick in the head of his life.
This reminds me of that short story by Raymond Carver, A Small, Good Thing.
Thing is, it’s not even about getting medical attention right away. Natasha Richardson felf fine. Back in the 70s a co worker and friend of my mom felt fine too. She fell, hit her head, was fine. Two days later she was dead. It happens.
Back when I was a kid, fell off my bike, the bike split in two, I went head first onto the concrete street. Concussion. No trip to the hospital. It wasn’t done then. Dr came to the house and said I had a concussion and to keep me awake for 24 hrs. Blacked out, blurry vision, vomitting, etc. I was fine eventually. Friend of my mom’s fell, slipped on ice on the sidewalk. She was fine too. A couple days later, she was dead. It happens.