Printable View
Scientific American put up a nice layman's medical summary of the issues here:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=...die-richardson
If you have an aneurysm or a weakened vessel, it may not take much? Reading all this ski resort fatality stuff lately (and also taking a WFA course and learning how I and the patrollers didn't take nearly enough precaution afterwards) has gotten me spooked after my crash 2 weeks ago - I feel like a lucky SOB.
Holy shit. That is soooo fucked up. Vibes to her family.
RIP
:tdo13:
How twisted that her husband starred in a recent film entitled "Taken".
RIP, so sad.
I happen to be VERY close to someone that is a work comp professional. Amazing the # of patrollers, instructors, red coats, etc... that don't wear helmets.
Vibes to the family and friends......
Helmets are like seatbelts to me.....just wear em.
Wow. I'd kind of heard of her, but what a life!!!
-----------snip--------------
WashPost:
Tony Award-winning actress Natasha Richardson, 45, a member of a British acting dynasty, died March 18 from a head injury she suffered while skiing.
Ms. Richardson, a daughter of Academy Award-winning actress and human rights activist Vanessa Redgrave and the wife of actor Liam Neeson, fell on a beginners' slope near Montreal during a ski lesson March 16. Ms. Richardson initially appeared uninjured, but an hour later, she complained of a headache. As her condition worsened, she was flown to a hospital near her home in New York City, where her family gathered.
Ms. Richardson's father was producer Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones"). Her maternal grandparents were actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. An aunt is actress Lynn Redgrave, with whom Ms. Richardson and her mother appeared in the 2005 Merchant Ivory film "The White Countess."
Ms. Richardson might have been overshadowed by the public profiles of her family members, particularly her mother's, but she was widely respected for the quality and versatility of her performances.
She won a Tony Award for the 1998 Broadway revival of the musical "Cabaret," in which she played bohemian showgirl Sally Bowles, and she starred in a variety of film, TV and stage productions. She played Blanche Du Bois in Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire" (2005) and appeared in Disney's remake of "The Parent Trap" (1998).
As a young woman, Ms. Richardson was considered one of the most promising actresses of her generation and earned a reputation as a specialist in formidable dramatic parts. She received a Tony nomination and outstanding notices for her lead role as a woman with a dark past in a 1993 Broadway revival of the Eugene O'Neill waterfront story "Anna Christie."
Director Paul Schrader, who cast Ms. Richardson in several movies, once noted how she "had an essential quality of mystery about her. You can watch her for the better part of two hours, and still think that she'll show you something new."
In addition to Schrader's "Patty Hearst" (1988), in which she played the kidnapped heiress, and the psychological thriller "The Comfort of Strangers" (1990), Ms. Richardson starred in literary dramas including "A Month in the Country" (1987) with Colin Firth and "The Handmaid's Tale" (1990) with Robert Duvall.
She made some attempts to raise her profile, appearing in "The Parent Trap," with Lindsay Lohan, and in "Maid in Manhattan" (2002), portraying a frosty socialite opposite a hotel maid played by Jennifer Lopez.
Film scholar David Kipen said: "Richardson radiated intelligence in everything she did. She won raves for Shakespeare, Chekhov, O'Neill, Williams and Ibsen, and she could sing, besides. If the movies never knew quite what to do with her, that strikes me more as the medium's fault than hers."
Natasha Jane Richardson was born in London on May 11, 1963. She made her stage debut at 4, directed by her father while playing her mother's bridesmaid in the movie "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Her parents' marriage ended about that time. Tony Richardson died of AIDS-related complications in 1991.
At 17, Ms. Richardson passed her audition at London's Central School of Speech and Drama without revealing her true name. She debuted in London's West End theater district as Nina in a 1985 revival of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" that starred her mother. It was a daunting way to start her professional career, but she later told the New York Times: "If you jump in at the deep end, you only have to swim to the shallow end. But if you jump in at the shallow end, the deep end seems awfully far away."
During the show's run, she began a relationship with "Seagull" producer Robert Fox, and they later married. She left him to marry Neeson, with whom she appeared in "Anna Christie."
Survivors include Neeson and their two sons; her mother; and a sister, actress Joely Richardson.
Ms. Richardson's early films included "Gothic" (1986), a sexually provocative drama directed by Ken Russell. She played the mistress of atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in "Fat Man and Little Boy" (1989) and a court-appointed psychiatrist in "Nell" (1994), starring Jodie Foster. She also portrayed the troubled Catharine in a TV version of Tennessee Williams's "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1993) opposite Maggie Smith.
----------snip---------
How sad. Weird story with the delayed onset and stuff. Only good thing I can see coming from this is that maybe more people will wear helmets.
This is so sad.
Rest in Peace.
Sad, and surprising. :nonono2:
???Quote:
Originally Posted by waxman
:confused: Good thing???
So, what do you consider News, then?
Not a minor celeb dying in very unusual circumstances, and not the meltdown of Capitalism :confused:
It's a tragedy all around. RIP, Natasha.
+++++++++++vibes+++++++++++++++++
to her, her family and especially the instructor
I had a similar experience earlier this teaching a disabled student one weekend, came back up the next weekend and my boss told me he got sick driving home and died later that week.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NPG
I slammed into a tree at moderate speeds last year, and this is what happened to my helmet. I skied away fine. WEAR A FUCKING HELMET, PEOPLE
My heart and prayers go out to her family.
Vibes to here family and friends.
Also vibes to the instructor. I felt bad when I had a learner break her wrist on a nursery slope. But to die? He must be feeling like absolute shit at the moment.
Definitely a bad day for the family. My condolences to them.
Have been considering a helmet for the past 2 seasons, and while I was going to get one anyways this just underscores the fact that it can happen anytime to anyone.
Vibes.
I'm wondering the same thing. Would altitude sickness play a factor? If there was already a lack of oxygen to the brain what kind of affect would that have in a fall? And putting her on a plane? Could that have compounded the injury or was she already "brain dead" and the papers didn't report that? I know sometimes they transport people home on life support to give friends and family a chance to say goodbye before they pull the plug. But if she was in critical, why try to move her and put her in a plane that has to be pressurized and repressurized? Plus, small planes bounce around.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tauby
I'm just trying to get my head around the idea of dying from a low-speed beginner fall. There've got to be other factors! Any patrol out there that can shed some light?
BTW, resorts are reluctant to command instructors to wear helmets.
1) if it's a required item yet non-essential (like having skis or a board), then they could be forced to provide helmets to all employees- that's a big cost
2)If an employee gets hurt while wearing a helmet they were required to wear, they could sue claiming the accident wouldn't have happened but for the helmet (like it blocked his vision or snapped his neck wrong). Same goes for a person in ski school. If helmets were required in a lesson and someone gets hurt while wearing one, you might have a lawsuit on your hands.
Besides, unless a helmet law is federally mandated, a ski resort would assume a tremendous amount of liability if they create their own rule.
Studies show that helmets don't always prevent head injuries. That could be enough for a 'victim' to win in court.
The IFSA DOES enforce a helmet rule but most of those competitors don't have traditional insurance and any outside personal injury attorney would be hard pressed to find a winable case when no one's putting a gun to an athlete's head and making him huck a 30-footer onto hardpack. Big difference between an unforeseeable accident and a foreseeable one.
Bottomline- Every experienced skier knows a helmet is better than nothing so requiring a helmet is - for lack of a better pun- a no brainer.
just some thoughts....
At Tremblant?Quote:
Would altitude sickness play a factor?
Huh?Quote:
if she was in critical, why try to move her and put her in a plane that has to be pressurized and repressurized?
Double huh?Quote:
Besides, unless a helmet law is federally mandated, a ski resort would assume a tremendous amount of liability if they create their own rule.
Studies show that helmets don't always prevent head injuries. That could be enough for a 'victim' to win in court.
That is so not true.Quote:
Originally Posted by pcskigal
Even in Texas, the most sue happy state, some skate parks would require helmets, knee pads and elbow pads, some required just a helmet and others had no rules. All of them (I think) required a helmet for people under 18, on the basis that it could help prevent an injury.
As unfortunately demonstrated here, it doesn't take as much force as you might think to severely injure your brain. Think about taking a 15 pound melon and dropping it onto hardpack/ice from 5 to 6' in the air.
My very first wreck I responded to at Squaw was just by the lower Siberia patrol shack where the terrain is flat. A woman in her late 20's on a snowboard slid on an icy patch and lost her heel side edge. I watched it happen and while her head hit hard, it didn't look that bad. She sat up immediately, but then stayed there for a couple of minutes so I walked up slope to check on her. She went from complaining about a headache to unresponsive w/ raccoon eyes in about 10 minutes. In this case, luckily, she had fractured her skull, which allowed for a release of some of the built up pressure on the brain.
Anyway, the fall was outwardly pretty innocuous, especially compared to watching somebody ragdoll down a cliff band, but the force can be higher when you stop suddenly. i.e. your head hitting the ice from 5' up.
doesn't take much..
Thoughts are with the family..
Always sad to hear about accidents like this. RIP Natasha and condolences to the family.
Makes you think how many of these types of deaths never make headlines in the media when they happen to non-famous people.
I know my helmet has saved my noggin; on a race night at Bretton Woods no less! I was coming down to the starting area (on a green trail). It was still early season and the mtn had just received 4-5" of fluffy powder. Just above the race starting area, between a light pole and the trees, there looked to be a couple of powder puffs that I decided to try to sink my skis into. I went in and under the 4 inches of fluff was several frozen chunks of mud, apparently escavated from a nearby waterbar. My skis got wedged between a couple of these chunks stopping them and all of my momentum went straight into my head, which then when straight into the ground. I was only moving at about 10 mph. The crash happened so fast. I think I laid there with my face in the snow for a few seconds as I gathered myself together. I hit forehead first and I was amazed that I still had all of my teeth. The impact cracked my helmet although I still felt a bit woozy (slightly concused). I truely believe that if I had not been wearing my helmet, I would have been severely concussed or worse.
Helmets are also great in the trees. Pre-helmet I was constantly having to hike back up to retrieve my tuke that had been pulled off by branches.
Did you even research where Tremblant is before asking this question? There are definitely no altitude issues there. Base area is around 900' and the summit just short of around 2900'. Skiers at Eastern North American resorts don't suffer from any high altitude problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by pcskigal
My Dad died of an Brain Aneurysm 1.5 years ago. He tripped on a stair and bonked his head on the railing, thought nothing of it and went home with a bump on his noggin, laughing at his clumsiness. The next day he couldn't move. 2 weeks later we took him off life support.
RIP Natasha Richardson. You were a beautiful, talented woman who was enjoying the sport I love when this freak accident occurred.
agree!Quote:
Originally Posted by bluespark
someone I know fell in the bath, hit her head on the tiles and poof. It doesnt take much to knock stuff out.
I was googling for other deaths on beginner trails but couldnt find anything else. anyone else?
"NEW YORK – Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson died of a brain injury after falling on a ski slope, an autopsy found Thursday.
The cause of death was epidural hematoma (bleeding between the skull and the brain's covering), said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office. The death was ruled an accident.
Richardson, 45, died Wednesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan after falling at the Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec on Monday.
Yves Coderre, director of operations at the emergency services company that sent the medics to the Mont Tremblant resort, told The Globe and Mail newspaper Wednesday that ski patrollers requested an ambulance after Richardson fell.
The paramedics who responded were told they were not needed, said Coderre, whose company, Ambulances Radisson, serves Mont Tremblant, about 80 miles northwest of Montreal
"They never saw the patient," Coderre told The Globe and Mail. "So they turned around."
Coderre said another ambulance was called later to Richardson's luxury hotel. By that point, her condition had gotten worse and she was rushed to a hospital.
It wasn't immediately clear who sent the first ambulance away or why, but a resort spokeswoman said Tuesday that Richardson initially said that she was fine.
Richardson then said she didn't feel well and had a headache, said Catherine Lacasse, public relations supervisor at the resort on Tuesday. "So, we sent her to the hospital.'
The resort also issued a statement Tuesday that said Richardson didn't appear hurt and was walking around shortly after the incident.
"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 resort said.
The ski resort said the instructor and a ski patroller accompanied the actress to her hotel, where they again recommended she should be seen by a doctor.
Coderre said victims of head trauma often believe they are fine, a mistake that can cost them their lives.
"When you have a head trauma you can bleed. It can deteriorate in a few hours or a few days," he told the newspaper.
She was eventually moved to a Montreal hospital before being transferred to New York.
Messages left by The Associated Press with Coderre at Ambulances Radisson were not immediately returned. Lacasse at Mont Tremblant declined to comment further."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim S
So, what to do, then? I've banged my head pretty good several times in the last couple of years, but felt OK (had a little tingling in some part of my body one time) and just continued skiing. It seems overkill to end the day and go to the hospital every time you bang your head. So, are you just at the mercy of the fates? Or are there signs that indicate that something serious might be happening (e.g., if a headache comes on, go to the hospital)?Quote:
Originally Posted by Neurodoc
Slurred speech is a telltale sign that there is something going on.
My question too. I mean this is just scary shit. Who DOESN'T hit their head hard every once in a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by woodstocksez
I need to clear a few things up here.
1. It is standard SOP by the ski patrol here that all head injury's be advised to go to the hospital. The Patrol did that.
2. The ski instructor did stay with her for one hour at the hotel room. She did call the Rescue Squad after one hour. Ms. Richardson refused treatment. Then her assistant basically took over.
The Intrawest "Ski Patrol" and "Ski Instructor" did everything right FYI
3. There is a clinic right across the street from the Hotel She was staying at with Doctors on Staff as well FYI. Only 200' away infact FYI
4. 2 1/2 hours after the first Rescue Squad was refused upon arrival another was called. This was the one that transported her to the St Agathe Hospital.
That is the only factual information I have other than the slope conditions that day.
But this was an accident. It could of happened to anybody. No conspiracy. Just a poor lady that thought she had a bump on the head and it turned out sad. My thoughts, prayers, and hopes go to the family. Peace be with them.