Natasha Richardson has passed away

[lisa needs braces]

I did not know the actress by name but she does certainly look familiar.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/us/19richardson.html?ref=arts

How tragic.

[Dundonnell]

She was the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, grand daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and the wife of Liam Neeson.

I presume that she must have suffered a catastrophic brain haemmorhage as a result of the fall.

It is indeed a terrible tragedy for her family and especially her two young sons. May she Rest In Peace

[Harry]

This is devastating, such a fine young woman, a marvelous actress, with stunning looks, a mother of two sons, and a life full of new promises, swiped away by the grim reaper.
I will keep her in my memory! What a tragedy indeed!
May she rest in peace, and dwell in the embrace of goodness.

[rockerreds]

She was the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, grand daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and the wife of Liam Neeson.

I presume that she must have suffered a catastrophic brain haemmorhage as a result of the fall.

It is indeed a terrible tragedy for her family and especially her two young sons. May she Rest In Peace

She was the daughter of director Tony Richardson(Tom Jones).

[Bunny]

She was the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, grand daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and the wife of Liam Neeson.

I presume that she must have suffered a catastrophic brain haemmorhage as a result of the fall.

It is indeed a terrible tragedy for her family and especially her two young sons. May she Rest In Peace

Autopsy findings released: she died of an epidural hemorrhage caused by blunt force trauma. 

The manner of her death is one that has been often described as  "talk and die syndrome." For the bleeding to have worsened so rapidly, an artery may have been ruptured.  It's now very rare for anyone so young to die of such injuries if they are close to a good medical center. 

The one good thing that has come out of the war in Iraq is that the management of traumatic head injuries has progressed by leaps and bounds.  Unfortunately, one still has to know enough to accept help in a timely manner.

 

[nut-job]

Autopsy findings released: she died of an epidural hemorrhage caused by blunt force trauma. 

The manner of her death is one that has been often described as  "talk and die syndrome." For the bleeding to have worsened so rapidly, an artery may have been ruptured.  It's now very rare for anyone so young to die of such injuries if they are close to a good medical center. 

The one good thing that has come out of the war in Iraq is that the management of traumatic head injuries has progressed by leaps and bounds.  Unfortunately, one still has to know enough to accept help in a timely manner.

It would be comforting to think that she would have been saved if she had sought immediate medical attention, it gives us a sense we can protect ourselves from this sort of outcome.  I don't think it is so clear. 

According to media reports it was a 20 minute trip to the nearest hospital (which apparently had a CT scanner but no MRI scanner, trauma center, or neurosurgeon on staff) then a 90 minute trip to the nearest hospital that was equipped to treat her.   Assuming her condition was recognized as soon as she could be loaded into a CT scanner it would have been at least 2 1/2 hours before someone was prepared to open her head.  Comparing to how things developed, her epidural hematoma would have become critical in the ambulence driving from the first hospital to the second hospital.

In any case, it is clear we have to take everything that is said with a grain of salt, because everyone who is talking is trying to deflect responsibility.  The resort says the fall was "minor" and she didn't hit her head, and that she was totally normal afterwards.  That is absurd.  You can assume that every single novice skier on that "bunny slope" took a tumble of some sort by the time they reached the bottom.   Did the ski patrol transport every novice on that mountain to the bottom.  Were there 100 ambulances speeding 100 novice skiers to 100 CT scanners that afternoon?  No.  They singled her out for dramatic intervention, so something out of the ordinary must have happened to her on that slope.
   

[nut-job]

As I suspected, accounts given initially to the press have been significantly distorted.  Records obtained by the New York times indicate that Ms Richardson did not reach the local hospital until 4 hours after the accident, and the major hospital until 6 hours after.  The initial ambulance crew arrived within a half hour and "saw" her but did not speak to her.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/health/21richardson.html?hp

In view of the corrected time line, her chances would have been much better with immediate medical intervention, assuming they reacted efficiently.