"Blunt impact" killed Richardson
Saturday March 21, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

The New York City medical examiner's office has ruled that actress Natasha Richardson died of an epidural hematoma after a blunt impact to the head.

Richardson, 45, died Wednesday after being removed from life support at a New York City hospital

Natasha Richardson, the wife of actor Liam Neeson, was skiing in the resort of Mont Tremblant near Montreal earlier in the week when she fell on the nursery slope while having a ski lesson.

It's been described by resort authorities as a "minor fall" and she carried on skiing after the accident but then began to complain of a headache and felt unwell.

A statement from the ski resort said it occurred while Richardson was taking a supervised lesson on a beginners run.

Natasha RichardsonAfter the fall, the instructor called the ski patrol for assistance.

A spokeswoman for the resort said: "She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor."

Both the instructor and the patrol accompanied the actress to her hotel and again urged her to see a doctor. A short time later she developed a headache and received medical assistance.

She was not wearing a ski helmet.  She was first treated in hospital locally but on Tuesday night she was taken by private jet to a hospital in New York accompanied by her husband.

Apparent rise in accidentsNatasha Richardson is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and the late film director Tony Richardson. She married Neeson in 1994 after they both appeared in the film Nell. They have two sons.

It is yet another injury on the ski slopes and will add to the growing concerns about safety.

So how dangerous is skiing and snowboarding? See this related news feature.

Injuries to the famous tend to get reported more and often lead to a change in the behaviour of others.

The deaths of Sony Bono, the other half of the music duo Sony and Cher, and Michael Kennedy back in 1998 led to a huge increase in helmet sales and a tightening up of safety.

Sony Bono died when he skied into a tree at Heavenly Valley and Michael Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy, died a few days earlier in similar circumstances in Aspen Colorado.

Compulsory for children in AustriaThis winter a woman was killed in Austria when the German Politician, Dietter Althaus, collided with her.  She was not wearing a helmet and it sparked a huge debate in Austria and Germany about the advisability of wearing a ski  helmet.  Helmet sales shot up and some shops ran out of stock.

Shortly after Austria made it mandatory for children under 14 to wear a ski helmet.

On PlanetSKI yesterday we reported the death of a Briitsh man in France.

Meanhile, last wekend a 7 year old German boy skied into a piste basher in front of his parents and died from his injuries on the way to hospital. He was wearing a helmet at the time.

In Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria at the weekend a 39 year old woman died after knocking herself out during a bad fall.

Niether of the incidents will get reported in the media as much as the Natasha Richardson accident, but they once again point out that skiing and snowboarding is a dangerous sport.

There are relatively few deaths and serious injuries amoung professional skiers and snowboarders as they understand the risks and the sport is extremely safety conscious.

Some resorts are also going to great lengths to promote the safety message.

Tignes promotes safetyTignes in France is one such resort where they have special areas set aside for avalanche training and practicing finding an avalanche beacon. 

In addition many of the bottlenecks now have ropes and netting to prevent people going too fast. 

"This year no-one has died in Tignes which is welcome news as it is a big freeride resort and usually a handful of people perish every winter," says Stephanie Aillett from the Tourist Office. "Perhaps that is because we have the avalanche training area and we put an important emphasis on safety."

However there do seem to be a large number of incidents involving holidaymakers this winter.

There are probably no more than usual but with the growth of the internet the accidents are more widely reported.

Here at PlanetSKI we think that is a good thing if it means people behave with more caution and realise that skiing is inherently dangerous.

See this related news feature on safety.

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