TheSpec.com - BreakingNews - Injured actress has flown to U.S., Quebec hospital reports Injured actress has flown to U.S., Quebec hospital reports
Associated Press file photo In an Oct. 17, 2008 file photo actors Liam Neeson, right, and partner Natasha Richardson arrive for the Times BFI London Film Festival in London. Published reports say actress Richardson is in critical condition after a skiing accident in Quebec yesterday.
Associated Press file photo In an Oct. 17, 2008 file photo actors Liam Neeson, right, and partner Natasha Richardson arrive for the Times BFI London Film Festival in London. Published reports say actress Richardson is in critical condition after a skiing accident in Quebec yesterday. Associated Press file photo In an Oct. 17, 2008 file photo actors Liam Neeson, right, a ... In an Oct. 17, 2008 file photo actors Liam Neeson, right, a ... Associated Press file photo In an Oct. 17, 2008 file photo actors Liam Neeson, right, and partner Natasha Richardson arrive for the Times BFI London Film Festival in London. Published reports say actress Richardson is in critical condition after a skiing accident in Quebec yesterday.
Took tumble on Tremblant ski hill
March 17, 2009
Tobi Cohen
The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — Actress Natasha Richardson was quietly spirited away from a Montreal hospital this afternoon as speculation raged about the seriousness of her condition after a fall at the posh Mont Tremblant ski resort.
One day after Richardson took a tumble that a resort spokesperson said looked harmless enough, media reports varied widely about her condition — with some saying she was brain dead.
Both the New York Post and FOXNews.com said Richardson was brain dead and had been transported to New York City to be taken off life-support.
Other Hollywood “insider” websites suggested the 45-year-old actress had swelling of the brain.
Josée-Michelle Simard, a spokeswoman for Sacré-Coeur Hospital in Montreal, confirmed this afternoon the celebrity had been a patient but that she left around 12:30 p.m. and was headed out of the country.
Mont Tremblant spokeswoman Lyne Lortie said Richardson was conscious and showed no signs of a serious head injury after she fell on a beginner run around noon Monday while in the company of an experienced instructor.
Lortie said the Tony-award-winning actress was in the middle of the private lesson at the resort north of Montreal when she suffered what appeared to be a relatively unspectacular fall.
While Richardson seemed fine, the ski patrol wanted to take a closer look so she was taken to the bottom of the hill by sled, Lortie said.
“She showed really no visible sign of injury and she was talking and showed absolutely no sign of confusion,” she said. “It was right in the middle of the slope so she didn’t hit anyone or a tree. It was a fall as anyone can do. It wasn’t a violent fall at all.”
A family member confirmed Richardson had a skiing accident but the extent of her injuries was unclear.
“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.”
Lortie said the ski patrol wanted Richardson to see a doctor but she insisted on returning to her room at Mont Tremblant’s Hotel Quintessence.
The ski patrol and instructor stayed with her for about an hour after which she began complaining of a headache and not feeling well.
Lortie said they immediately called an ambulance and she was taken to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentian near Mont Tremblant before being transferred to Sacré-Coeur.
The Canadian Press was told initially on Monday that someone with the same name as Richardson had been admitted to Sacré-Coeur’s intensive care unit, but employees said later in the day they had no records of someone with that name at the hospital.
Simard of Sacré-Coeur said the family was to release a statement on Wednesday.
Richardson is married to actor Liam Neeson and is the daughter of famous British actress Vanessa Redgrave.
Neeson was reportedly in Toronto at the time of Richardson’s accident filming the movie “Chloe” with Julianne Moore.
Producers confirmed that Neeson immediately left the Toronto set upon news of his wife’s accident.
Richardson comes from a long line of successful actors. She was born in London to Redgrave and the late British director Tony Richardson.
Her maternal grandparents were Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson and her uncle Corin and aunt Lynn Redgrave are also both actors. Sister Joely Richardson is also an actress, best known for starring in the TV series “Nip/Tuck.”
Richardson trained at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama which initially led to a career in regional theatre, then later to film and television roles.
Richardson won a Tony award in 1998 for her turn in “Cabaret.” Film credits include “The Parent Trap,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Evening,” “Gothic,” “A Month in the Country” and “Nell” in which she appeared with Neeson.
In January, Richardson and her mother played the roles of mother and daughter in a one-night benefit concert version of ”A Little Night Music,” the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, at Studio 54 in New York.
Richardson has been married to “Schindler’s List” star Neeson since 1994. The couple have two sons.
Richardson at the UK premiere of ''The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian''. According to conflicting reports, British actress Natasha Richardson is brain dead following a severe head injury from a skiing accident on Monday. The New York Post reported that friends of Richardson said she "was brain dead", after earlier reporting that she was "dead". They later issued a correction which said she was brain dead. Other media reports say that her brain is severely swollen. Fox News Channel also reports Richardson as brain dead.

Richardson was transported by plane from Sacré-Coeur Hospital in Montreal, Canada to a care facility in New York City in the United States. She remains in very critical condition and reports say she is not likely to survive. Once in the U.S., she will be taken off life support.

Richardson, 45, was taking a private skiing lesson in Mont-Tremblant in Quebec when reports say she fell, hitting her head. Despite the fall, witnesses say she did not appear to have been seriously injured. An hour after the fall and after she returned to her hotel room, Richardson began to feel ill and was taken to a local hospital. She was later transported to Sacré-Coeur Hospital.

"She was talking and making jokes and there was no sign of any apparent injury. She said she was okay and didn't want to go to hospital or see a doctor. About an hour later she said she was not feeling that good after all. She said she had a headache. They agreed to dial 911 and an ambulance came to take her away," Mont-Tremblant resort ski station spokeswoman Catherine Lacasse to The Daily Telegraph.

Richardson's husband, actor Liam Neeson, has left Toronto where he was filming a movie and will be with Natasha when she arrives in the U.S.. He was acting in the movie 'Chloe', which was being filmed in the area. Both were staying at the resort in Mont-Tremblant. The couple have two children who were also staying with them, Daniel Jack age 12 and Micheal Richard Antonio age 13. They are said to have been skiing with their mother when she fell.

"Liam Neeson left the Toronto set immediately to fly to Montreal upon news of his wife’s accident. We do not have any details at this time, but we hope for the best and our thoughts and prayers are with Natasha and Liam and their family," said spokespeople for Neeson in a statement to the press. Richardson's family and spokespeople are expected to issue a statement sometime after she arrives in New York City.