Details of the accident
Monday March 23, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

It was, as the resort of Mount Tremblant says, “a minor fall.”

A contact of ours in the resort who preferred not to be named has told us what she knows. “She actually fell as she stopped, on a flat bit of the slope on one of the easiest slopes on the mountain. The ski instructor had asked her if she wanted a helmet before starting the lesson, but she didn’t want one.”

After the fall the instructor called the ski patrol but she said she felt fine and wanted to carry on skiing.

A spokeswoman for the resort, Lyne Lorties, 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."

The slopes of Mont TremblantRichardson said she felt OK and declined.

The instructor and member of the ski patrol later accompanied her back to her hotel where she was still walking, laughing and talking.

Once in the hotel room and an hour or so after the incident she deteriorated and medical attention was sought.

She was first taken to a local hospital near the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec and later transferred to Hopital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal.

It was here that she became critical.

So the key questions are would wearing a helmet have prevented injury and would seeing a doctor sooner have saved her life?

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.

So, it appears the injury came from actually hitting her head as opposed to a whiplash injury from the fall that could equally have produced the same consequences.

A helmet obviously offers some protection in a fall.

“There is good evidence that even moderate head injuries can lead to some permanent disability and a ski helmet protects against moderate injury by absorbing some of the impact and spreading the load. Thus possibly reducing the severity of injury,” the consultant surgeon, Jonathan Bell, has told us.

It’s impossible to say whether a helmet would have saved her life but it certainly wouldn’t have made matters worse and could have helped her.

The question of whether seeking medical attention sooner would have been a wiser course of action is also difficult.

The post mortem found that Richardson died from bleeding in her skull.

Such bleeding is often caused by a skull fracture that produces a blood clot that puts pressure on the brain.

That pressure forces the brain out of position, pressing on the brain stem that controls breathing and other vital functions.

Patients with such an injury often feel fine immediately after being injured, as symptoms from the bleeding may take time to emerge and once the process has started there is little that can be done.

The death of Natasha Richardson appears therefore to be just a one off, freak and tragic accident.

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