Natasha Richardson dies at 45...
 

This is really sad. I respect the feelings of her loved ones. Truly shocking.

Link

RIP

This is shocking and saddening. I heard about her accident on the radio this morning, but I didn't know it was that bad!

Wow, I thought it was just a simple ski accident. RIP

Sadly it was worse than we could imagine...

I actually got choked up at the news. Heartbreaking.

I was looking forward to watching her perform Night Music. :(:(:(

Brain injuries are just bizarre. I hear about incredible cases in which people survive enormous impact and come out with "scrapes and bruises," but then Natasha Richardson "falls" while skiing, laughs and jokes about it, has no visible signs of an injury, and then just goes brain dead. I technically understand how the brain could have been swelling or bleeding over the time span, but what gets me is the way other people survive such extreme traumas like a gunshot to the head or a Phineas Gage type of injury... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phineas_Gage_CGI.jpg

ETA: my post reads with a calloused tone, but that's really not how I typed it to sound. More like a shocked train of thought kind of thing. Her poor boys...

We all understand, trideezy. The shock of someone dying while he or she is supposedly doing so well is always hard. God bless her, and her family. What pain they must be feeling at this moment.

I can't stop thinking of her husband's (Liam Neeson) performance in Love Actually. :(

It's eerie how he's just now lost his wife IRL.

http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2003...tually_004.jpg

This is very sad. I adore these two actors and how they made a celeb marriage work. God bless her family at this time and especially her two young boys. RIP

One of my favorite all time movies. I am stunned and my heart goes out to her family :(

:( RIP

The problem with this story is that we have very few details. From the history given of the incident, she likely suffered from a epidural hematoma. The classic story is that the patient has a blow to the head, may or may not lose consciousness, then feels fine. Hours later if the patient is not treated, they lose consciousness again and die. The bleeding continues from the time of injury until it reaches a point that the pressure on the brain overrides the brains ability to compensate for this pressure change. The patient then herniates brain tissue out of the cranial vault and puts pressure on the brain stem which stops the patient from breathing and they die.

Other penetrating injuries, like Phineas Gage, will produce local injury which may or may not be fatal depending on the importance of the injured brain to basic life functions. There are large areas of the brain that are NOT essential to life. You may end up with memory, speech or motor problems, but if you can breath, you live. Richardson was just unlucky enough to break her skull and tear an artery which caused the fatal bleeding.

This is a very basic review of brain injury. There are a lot of other factors involved in outcomes, but they are more predictable than you think.

What is unfortunate is that if Natasha Richardson had been treated immediately, she may not have died. We'll have to wait for more details to know for sure.

My heart goes out to her family.

I was thinking of that too. One of the few celebrity marriages that seem to have lasted.

It really makes hitting your head a scary thing now. I remember cracking my head on a low-slanting ceiling and having a minor concussion. I didn't go to the doctor or anything, but after hearing about this story, it makes you wonder for future situations.

And I LOVED her in the Parent Trap.

This is so sad...

One of my chapter sisters died in a similar manner in November. She had fallen in the bathroom in the morning and hit her head. She had a slight headache but felt relatively ok and went about her day. At Parent-teacher conferences that night, she collapsed. They initially called it a stroke. She went into a coma and never came out of it and passed a week or so later.

My two favorite parts were (1) when Haley runs up the stairs to greet her and hugs her and (2) when the two of them were in the bed and Elizabeth finds out that she has Haley and not Annie.

Sorry to hear that. My condolences to her family and friends.

This is a terrible situation and watching the coverage of it has gotten me pretty upset. She was a great actress, and how terrible to lose a life on such a freak accident.

I loved her in that movie!!! I also love Liam Nesson! This is so sad!

I grew up admiring her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, who--in her 30s and 40s--certainly looked a lot like Natasha looked now. For a sweet reminder, you might rent Camelot or Julia--you will see where Natasha got her looks, class, and talent.

Natasha Richardson was a brilliant, lovely actress with good manners and lots of class, a strong marriage, and wonderful children. Sadly, this set-up is the exception rather than the rule in much of the entertainment world today.

i was just thinking that....the parent trap with lindsey lohan. That was such a great movie

OMG I just figured out that she was the mom in The Parent Trap (I didn't read this thread all the way through or else I would've known that sooner). I'm so sad now. I thought it was some actress I didn't know because I always mixed her up with Emma Thompson (I know they don't look alike, but Natasha looks like her name is 'Emma' if that makes sense). Hearing someone died made me sad but I loved her so much in that role...now it feels like someone I *know.*

Such a horrible loss. She was a favorite of mine. I feel horrible for her family. Rest in peace, Natasha.