On the morning of March 16, 2009, sunny skies and rising temperatures came to the ski resort of Mont Tremblant in Québec, Canada, a themed day of spring taking visitors out into the streets with boulders and beautiful mountain trails.
Among the guests of the hotel on Monday was 45-year-old actress Natasha Richardson, who was ready to throw herself into ski lessons with the same aplomb that led to famous screen roles in Patty Hearst and Parent Trap, as well as a Tony Award – winning concert in Cabaret.
But what began as a glorious day ended with a catastrophe for Richardson and his family, including actor Liam Neeson and their two sons, Micheál and Daniel, as something very similar to falling with an inexperienced skier turning deadly through the questionable decisions that led to great pain. by looking back.
Richardson initially refused medical help
At around noon, Richardson was on the mountain with a teacher and near the bottom of a beginners path as she crossed; her head, helmet-free and helmet-protected, against the still hard snow.
Richardson went down from the spill, but her emotional instructor asked for a second opinion from the ski guard, who later called for an ambulance.
However, Richardson claimed she was fine. She signed a receipt to refuse medical assistance and walked to her room at the Quintessence Hotel, her teacher and a member of the ski service tagging just to be sure.
Meanwhile, paramedics arrived in an ambulance at 1pm. Learning that their services were unnecessary, they went back as they had come a few minutes later.
Natasha Richardson in 2005
Photo: J. Kempin / FilmMagic
More time was lost as she was taken to two hospitals
Back in her room, Richardson initially showed no ill effects from the incident. She even lit it up in a phone call to her husband, in Toronto for a film shoot, relaying the news with a foot, “Oh, darling. I’ve taken a tumble in the snow.”
But levels of confusion escalated when the actress began complaining of a headache and showing signs of confusion. Another call for an ambulance was made at 3pm, the courier highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Sent to a nearby hospital in Sainte-Agathe, Richardson showed promising signs and breathed easily with the help of oxygen. However, her leadership continued to decline, and hospital staff realized that they were not equipped to handle what was to become a real situation. He was loaded into another ambulance just before 6pm, this time going to the Montreal trauma center about 55 miles away.
Her husband discovered she was brain dead when she reached her side
By then, Neeson had already been informed that his wife was in serious trouble and she quickly left Toronto. As the actor said Esquire in 2011, he arrived at this forbidden “Dickensian” hospital, only to find out that no one recognized him, or that he intended to leave the emergency room.
Traveling outside, Neeson found a decent nurse who led him through a back door. He eventually found Richardson, tied to life support, and received the sad news that she was brain dead.
Looking at the X-ray which revealed that her brain was “scrubbed against the side of the skull,” Neeson recalled the one-time deal he made with his wife, both promising ” pull the plug ”if the other person wakes up in the same understanding that was looking him in the face.
“And I went in to her and told her I loved her,” Neeson told Anderson Cooper on 60 minutes. “Said, ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this. You’ve shaved your head. Yes – I don’t know if you can hear me, but that – this is what has gone down. And we’re taking ya back to New York. All your family and friends will come. ‘And that was more or less the same. “
Richardson was flown to New York, the site of her many Broadway successes and the home she shared with Neeson, and was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital on East Manhattan at Manhattan. There, surrounded by lovers, she was taken out of life support on March 18, two days after what was supposed to be a fun adventure on the slopes.
The autopsy confirmed that Richardson’s head lump had led to an epidural hematoma, a condition in which blood collects between the brain and the skull. It also raised the inevitable and inevitable questions of whether the accident could have been avoided, either by taking Richardson’s direct air to Montreal hospital to save valuable time or by the simple operation of her helmet. .
Carriers will carry Natasha Richardson ‘s coffin to her grave on March 22, 2009
Photo: Neilson Barnard / Getty Images
Neeson and their children drew inspiration from her memory
Richardson’s absence still felt unrealistic for Neeson too early in 2014, when he admitted to Cooper that he expected his wife to walk through the door. However, he was healed enough to gain some insight, noting that she was “keeping three people alive” by donating her organs.
Their children were also able to move on from the terrible loss, partly by finding inspiration from their mother’s words and actions. David, just 12 at the time of her past, went on to find the environmentally friendly Pine Outfitters clothing line.
“She was always about, ‘Never feel like you have to be pushed down a tunnel to get in,'” he told the Post New York in 2019. “‘Do what you want to do, but do your best and be generous with it.”
And finally Micheál, a year older than his brother, took his mother’s last name and entered the family business. His first feature film appeared opposite Neeson in the 2020 comedy drama Made in Italy, about a father and son who deal with the loss of the wife and mother who bound them together.
The production provided an opportunity to reflect on things with his old man, of course, as well as the other members of the team and the team that were experiencing the daunting challenge of losing a loved one. “That’s where I felt Mum, in a way,” Micheál explained to him Vanity Fair in 2020. “Through everyone.”