‘Vigil’ For Natasha Richardson In New York

Totally shocked. I hope these rumors aren't true. My heart goes out to her family. Her poor kids. My mother lost her mother at 13 and whenever she talks about it her eyes look like it just happened. I can only imagine what that's like.

I'm still mad Gawker thought it clever to call her a famous actors wife... I wish her peace and her family comfort.

@slowtraincoming: The report that her kids were with her makes sense, though. Neeson was in Toronto working. She was taking a lesson on the beginners' slope. It's spring break. Logically, the kids were likely with her.

Shelwood

@SteveManiac: my grandfather died from internal bleeding and brain swelling after a fall. our family sat with him in the hospital while they kept him on life support so we could say goodbye. believe me this is not the time to start speculating how this could potentially affect oneself in the future or make a larger argument over the healthcare system. it's heart wrenching to watch someone pass away so unexpectedly.

easternsike

This time would be better spent asking why our own health insurance companies are allowed to jettison us to the curb should such a tragedy befall us.

SteveManiac

@strega: see, and i read that part of the reason they flew her back here was because her kids are here. i wish media (no offense, gawker) would just stop reporting anything until they have some verifiable, real information.

slowtraincoming

I've been there- when I was nineteen my mom died of brain cancer, she was brain dead for 5 days before her body stopped working.
I don't know which is worse, waiting for a body to die when you know there's no hope of any other outcome, or being able to end it immediately by taking someone off life support.
My heart goes out to this family, it's a terrible position to be in and having the media spotlight on them benefits few.

DeadliestSin

@Tart of Darkness: OMG, that was such a circus. Every time I see that hack Bill Frist on TV I want to hurl my shoe at his face.

In 1993 or so, I was on break in a little retail store, in the basement and smoking cigarettes and reading a Vanity Fair with Liam Neesen. It was a big profile about how the "badboy," had been reformed and was dating Natasha Richardson. I had never heard of her, only her family.
I had been in a horrible mood and for some reason that article made me smile. Their dialogue back and forth was adorable. Whenever I have heard about them over the years I think back to the basement, and the article, and I'm always happy for them.
It's amazing how people we don't know can effect us.
I'm still hoping that the papers are wrong.

@wholenuther: I keep doing this as well ;(

i normally never get emotionally involved in these kind of things... but having not gone through something like this not that long ago, i know this is absolutely heart breaking for any family.

my heart goes out to her family and friends. she is a lovely lady. i wish all the best.

allikate

god damn, that's just sad.

sarclastic_spamtastic

I hope her family find strength within each other and since she is on life support that her family consider organ donation. She's young, healthy (as far as we know) for organ donation status.

I just read her children were with her when she had the accident and the picture of Vanessa entering the hospital said it all.

strega

@yourfriendandneighbor: It was a preemptive strike. It was also a bit of projection.

I honestly don't really know who Natasha Richardson is, but I can't stop checking in every few minutes as if being concerned enough will somehow fix everything.

wholenuther

@nystar2000: What I imagine was worse were the families of the dying in the facility where Terri Schiavo was who were not involved in any way pro or con with her case and who had to listen to the demonstrators and press during their last journey together.

But, yeah. I get what you mean.

@wholenuther: um, who was piping up?

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand

waltzngmatlda

It's pretty sad, but we feed it by reading it and I'm reading it. (As are all of you so pipe down!)

wholenuther

She looks stunning in this photo.

I know we're all in the information business here, and I have been on the other side of the hospital door lobbing questions at the aggrieved, but can you imagine having to deal with paparazzi shouting questions at you while you're trying to decide when to pull someone from life support? I've done it without the paps and it's pretty rough. They're all gathered outside Lenox Hill now, and apparently a family spokesperson just begged everyone to leave.

@wholenuther: Part of why I think it touches me is that I ride horses and have had falls where I've bumped my head. I do wear a helmet, but a helmet can only do so much. Some months ago, I fell and was knocked out. I still don't remember two hours of that morning even though I apparently talked to people, walked around and even remounted my horse and rode her for a brief while.

I don't know why I was so lucky to have not been more seriously injured. It absolutely could have happened to me. Or, because he rides, too, my husband. Or some of my friends.

It just seems to show how fragile life can be sometimes.

@nystar2000: And this, apparently is another one. It must be crushing to the family.

When my mom passed we were lucky to not be celebrities and we got to have a quiet and private goodbye. I think there should be a limit under the title of "human decency" to the excesses of the press at times like these.

Hard to accept; just too sudden. No guarantees, I know. All I can do is pray for her and her loved ones.

northernlights

So, no local Repubtards are going to say that it was her fault because she signed the contract with the warnings and the waiver in it?

Moriturus

Ryan, thank you for a well written and respectful post.

This situation breaks my heart - I feel so sad for Natasha Richardson and all her loved ones. What a terrible tragedy.

I saw her and Liam Neeson a few years ago on the Upper East Side. They just radiated glamour and class. Everyone was staring at them because it was simply impossible not to. And they were very gracious and friendly to everyone who approached.

I hate it when bad things happen to good people.

Awful for her and her family. My mother died of similar circumstances after a car accident. I live in fear for my son who is a ski patrolman. I can't imagine enduring this process in the spotlight. It will be a while before they find any peace, and unfortunately, there will probably be none for her mother.

As repulsive as it must be to have the media circling around them, I hope the public outpouring of good wishes helps ease her family's pain a bit.

Scout 3.0

@slowtraincoming: Both are likely true. That the kids were there Monday, and that the kids were in NYC Tuesday.

erinnyc

I think the scariest part of this story for me is the fact she was initially OK - or thought she was OK - when the accident happened. Scary to think you could be fine and then an hour later - be in ICU.

TriedandTrue

@Moriturus: We will when her family sues the resort for not warning her that skiing can be dangerous.

But that's not important right now. A beautiful, talented actress who is also the wife of a popular actor and the mother of two young kids is injured in a horrible accident and is now being surrounded by her family on a death vigil, and your first reaction is to bash people with whom you have a political disagreement? Dude, what is your problem? Stop being a liberal just for a few minutes and try to be a human being.

DaveCrabtree

Why is it that the "good" moms - you know, the ones who are sober and caring, don't party until 4 am, go on vacations with them, aren't in pap shots drunk; the ones who are wonderful role models - have things like this happen to them? And the ones who seem to have children like props who they dress up like dolls, or pick up for a couple of minutes a week, or for a staged photo op - destroy themselves, f*** up their kids, and survive?

I only started skiing after college, and I do what Natasha does - bunny slopes, with an instructor, no helmet. How could this happen? I keep trying to imagine what she could have hit with her head, how it was possible....

my heart goes out to those two boys. 12 and 13 is a tough, tough time to lose your mom. And she seemed like a special one.

@SteveManiac:
@easternsike: it's a fine opportunity to look at the larger question. celebrity tragedy > public discussion > change for the better

celebs who have tragic accidents or illnesses at least don't have to worry about the insurance and about getting the best possible care

the rest of us do have those worries

sorry about your granddad

@Tart of Darkness: oh you mean when the republican right to life taliban was enforcing its will in south florida? yes. that sucked.

This is one of the most heartbreaking things to happen ever. My heart and prayers go out to their family and friends.

@FormerEnglishMajor: It is ALWAYS the Natasha Richardsons and NEVER the Janice Dickinsons. Not fair. I call shenanigans on this terribly sad situation.

I just lost a friend last week who collapsed while playing with her son; she too was brain dead.

This sucks.

@FormerEnglishMajor: it might have been the other way around, that she had something else happen to her -- cerebral hemorrhage, heart attack, that caused the fall

that is often the case with old people, for example; they don't break their hips because they fall ... they fall because their hips snapped

My heart goes out to the entire family. This family has done so much for the entertainment industry, we have brought them all into our homes via television or movies. This is an international tragedy. My prayers are with the family as they face such difficult decisions in the coming days. I pray for strength for her children, husband, and family to be able to get through the days ahead. Natasha was a breath of fresh air during her short time on this planet. God has other plans for her and it's our plight to accept His will.

Annette Chapa

@Bunnya69: It really sucks. My best friend died of brain trauma she suffered when her horse fell on her during a riding competition. She was on life support for three or four days before the doctors and the family decided there was no hope and pulled the plug. For that time, we sat by her bed, talking to her (or to ourselves, we'll never know) or just looking at her. Other than the head bandages, she looked like she was napping, and I kept thinking that I should just touch her shoulder and say "Wake up! Let's get out of here" and she would and we would and it would all be over. It was the cruelty of that cosmic joke that kept me crying for weeks, something I didn't do upon the deaths of my parents.

DaveCrabtree

@maevemealone: You are? Man, I wish I had your life.

ligmasagbatch

@if_i_only_had_a_heart: And I bring it up as an example of the kind of media "event" that seems to just wash over any kind of story with some human interest. Did you see the stories about Octomom?

Back when Nixon had a blood clot a friend of mine was assigned by his small local Long Beach radio station to be on "clot watch". It was just him and a tape recorder sleeping on a bench in the lobby of Long Beach Memorial.

I hope that Natasha Richardson's family is screened from dealing with anything more, but I'm guessing no.

Why are we so touched when something like this happens to a celebrity? Few of us here knew her, and yet we are so deeply struck by the tragedy of it all. This is NOT to take away anything from her or her family. I have been following this story closely, hoping for a different outcome. Yet far worse things befall our fellow humans on a daily basis, but we carry on without pause.

@bonmot: 1) Because the heart-wringing details are right there in front of us, on Gawker and elsewhere, and b) because despite decades of evidence to the contrary, I think even the most pragmatic among us still tend to see fame and wealth as some kind of insulation against the random awful things that life can deal out.

@Shivery.McPickles: I guess "the good die young" really is true.

@DaveCrabtree: If you are a Republican, that is an uncharacteristically thoughtful response.

@Tart of Darkness: BTW, close to being dead is almost as bad as it gets in terms of things that befall other human beings.

@bonmot: For me? It's the ordinariness. She's out on a bunny slope with a private instructor, takes an unspectacular fall and the next thing you know she's in ICU with people speculating she's brain dead. And she's young and has two little boys who need her. It's pretty easy to identify with for me, so it touches me.

@Tart of Darkness: Ugh, I had a similar scary experience once - when I was in high school, I fell when we were schooling cross country. I whacked my head pretty good, but popped back up, got back on, and finished the course with a ringing noise in my ear and double vision, but full of adrenaline and crazy teenage bravado. I didn't tell a soul that for the rest of the day, and for the long drive home, that I felt sick to my stomach and couldn't focus. Eventually it wore off, but my God, I was lucky.

@Tart of Darkness: Why do movies or plays or novels move us? Those people are not only unknown to us, but they're not even real. We are sympathetic creatures, most of us anyway, and these stories, because they are so ordinary and could happen to us (and have, see one of my comments above), are so easy to sympathize with. If the press went down the hospital hallway and devoted 24/7 coverage to the poor brain-dead mom or dad or grandma or grandpa in the next room, we'd feel sympathy for them, too. It's just that the celebs are the ones who get the attention.

DaveCrabtree

@Cortina: Exactly. You're going along and then whack! I still feel lucky!

I actually did go to the hospital after my bad fall but no one was interested in my head much. They were mostly interested in xraying my ribs and pelvis. Which hurt very much.

@Tart of Darkness: Agreed. Poorly worded. I was thinking of poor living conditions, abuse, etc., leading to the death of others.

It's all so fragile, isn't it? For most of this week, I've been preoccupied with three things -- deadlines at work, my new Blackberry, and an upcoming vacation. I assume all these things matter, that'll I'll be frolicking in the sand and sun soon when it could all end before I finish this comment. It's sad this is happening to Natasha Richardson; it's terrifying that it could happen to any of us and those we love at any time.

DaeSu

@momof3wildkids: I am praying to hear that all of this is bunk and that she got a big dinger on the noggin' and that she is recuperating.

momof3wildkids

@Tart of Darkness: Yeah, I think people tend to focus on bones and write off the head as, "well, she was wearing a helmet". I think of the parade of stupid things my friends and I did on horses as teenagers, all of which might have ended in disaster, helmet or no helmet. Hell, when I was schooling or showing cross country, I even had on a Tipperary vest.

Actually, the single worst injury any of us ever experienced was in the barn - one girl I know was kicked in the head trying to get a horse uncast (alone. with no one around. at 15). Through some perverse miracle, she came out of it with no long term damages, but still, that could have gone so tragically wrong in so many ways.

My basic POV is that things like skiing and riding are just inherently dangerous, and we do what we can to minimize risk, but in the overall scheme of things, you're still taking that risk.

@What I Meant Was...: You forget that the Republicans are generally the party that is supportive of 'Life.'

momof3wildkids

@What I Meant Was...: Yes, I am a Republican (there, I admit it), and am happy to throw down with any Democrat in most circumstances, but not in all of them. There are some things in life that are WAY more important than politics, and I think our country would be a lot better off if more people learned that lesson and didn't measure every nanosecond of experience through a partisan filter.

Thanks for the compliment. I also thought it was a thoughtful response, and one sincerely felt. As for the "uncharacteristically" insult (which proves my point, no?), go fuck yourself.

DaveCrabtree

@TriedandTrue: I thought the same thing. Apparently she walked into the hospital under her own power, complaining of a headache. It's difficult to think of what could have happened that would cause a person to deteriorate so quickly and in such an unrecoverable way inside a hospital.

And because of that, I'm still not quite believing these reports. Although I realize that where there's smoke there's usually fire, so they're probably more likely right than not. But I'm still holding out some hope that they're not.

@waltzngmatlda: This is my favorite blessing. Amen

@momof3wildkids: Yeah... Right up until you get born.

Sadness:

[www.montrealgazette.com]

Mackintosh-Toffee

@bonmot: This actually strikes very close to home for me. My mother died suddenly, while at a school event for me, of an aneurysm. My older brother and I were around the ages of her sons at the time. I thought she would be fine after the paramedics got there, as she was apparently conscious and able to tell them her basic information. She died at the hospital shortly afterward.

My mom was a healthy, middle-aged woman who took care of herself and her family. It's so easy for all of that to be taken away, and for those left behind to be scarred forever. I think that is why this horrifies us. It could happen to us, to our loved ones, just as we go about our daily lives.

@waltzngmatlda: It ends "and may you be in Heaven three days before the devil knows you're dead." Amen

Tattertotter

I feel so sorry for Liam Neeson. He is going to torment himself for not being around when she hurt herself and making her go to the hospital for a scan right away. I hope he can find some peace and not suffer guilt, along with the horrid loss.

BookishLookish

@Tart of Darkness: you seem to be confusing the Press with humans.

....I don't even know what to say to this. It's too sad.

Yes, I am crying.

AuntPenny

I hate stories like this. I used to work at a medical malpractice firm, and we got these cases all the time. Young, healthy person is in a car/skiing/horse/similar accident, feels fine, continues on and then drops dead or paralyzed. It's usually a brain bleed or undiagnosed cervical fracture, the family's instinct is to blame somebody because it just has to be somebody's fault, right? But the truth is, it's a freak accident and that's that. Just bad luck. But other than getting an MRI after every sock to the noggin, nothing to be done I guess.

I fell down a few stairs a couple weeks ago, got up, cracked a joke, then dropped like a rock unable to stand up. Nothing to it but vertigo, sez the MRI, but for several seconds there I thought I might be one of the unlucky ones about to die on my living room floor. What a spooky, helpless feeling. This cuts way too close to the bone.

jeweltones

@leslieannelevine: So sorry, Leslie. It must be wrenching to have all that pain brought back again by Richardson's accident. Take care of yourself.

@TriedandTrue: She probably had either a subdural hematoma or an epidural hematoma: those are bleeds that happen within the coverings of the brain.

Subdural hematoma is nicknamed the "walk, talk, die" brain injury, because that's what happens to you: you're initially fine until the bleeding under your dura gets to the point that it compresses vital structures; then, down you go. Epidural hematoma is much faster-to-develop, but if it's from a bleeding vein, it acts much the same way.

I'm very, very sad about this. I so wish she'd gone to the hospital...but, you know, she probably felt fine until such time as she didn't. By that time, it's generally too late to do much.

Jo Aage

@valet_of_the_dolls: Um, ever hear of Terri Schiavo? Yea, I forgot those Republicans wanted to pull that plug. What conservatives push for is protection of life for those who cannot advocate for themselves. In the immortal words of my 6 year old son, "Duh!"

momof3wildkids

@badasscat: Unfortunately, this is not an unlikely scenario. Lots of head trauma involves bleeding and/or swelling cutting off blood to vital areas and causing all sorts of problems. It's not uncommon to think you're OK at first (the brain has no interior pain sensors, so you don't know you're bleeding or injured) and then the pressure mounts on critical areas and you degenerate rapidly.

All in all, I wish the whole family the best. It sounds like they were genuinely good people.

m4ximusprim3

I can't write how profoundly saddened I am for Liam, their kids, her family and their friends. May my condolences and compassion help them all in this very sad time.

Having had to make that horrible decision years ago to my first love I have to say that you never forget it. His family wanted me to make the decision, and to this day I can remember holding him and begging for him to come back. I still do not like to think of it, as it always brings tears.

And for the rest of us: please wear a helmet when you go skiing/boarding. Yes, you end up with hat hair, but my helmet saved my butt many times, in addition to a lot of my skiing friends.

@FormerEnglishMajor: Please get a helmet. If only to be a good role mdoel for your kids.

hollygirl

The Twitter vigil for Natashi is equally somber. See [gf.tearn.com] So young, so promising, so sad.

NOW will you listen to the trees' demands to cease logging?!

For gosh sakes, how many celebrities are we gonna have to lose in skiing accidents?!

this is stunning news...very sad...thoughts going out to the family...

@[www.msnbc.msn.com]

Heartbreaking.

Still sayin' prayers, hoping she gets better. Longshot, but still....

@Tattertotter: not really. thats an adage someone put in later. that is the complete prayer.

waltzngmatlda

@Moriturus:

What does politics have to do with this?

But she should have at least worn a helmet.

Katie Furlan

@waltzngmatlda: Heck, I always liked that ending--I used to hear it all the time in my stereotypic alcoholic sentimental Irish Catholic upbringing.

Tattertotter

This just flashed on CNN.com: "Actress Natasha Richardson has died after suffering injuries in a ski accident, according to a family " Sad, sad news.

VeronicaBababooey

@Tattertotter:

sounds like you have irish alzheimers. you forget everything but your qualms and grudges. ^^

waltzngmatlda

Why are so many people calling what happened to Natasha Richardson an "accident"? I live in Montreal and not once have I read that she hit her head (or any other part of her anatomy) when she fell. I am guessing that Ms. Richardson suffered from a stroke. Either way, it's dreadful what has happened to her, and I feel for her family, especially her sons and her husband.

DonnaBeans

We heard that she hit her head which all sounds peculiar but it is possible, that she might have had an aneurysm, or a small tear in the brain or even a mild stroke beforehand which isn't a result OF the fall but might have CAUSED the fall all together.

TimothyFazules

This kind of reminds me of Princess Diana - beautiful, lively woman with 2 sons, of a British "royal" family. If she does not survive, she will always be remembered in her prime.

LaurenHope

I'm sorry but brain dead is NOT clinically dead.

ShriFunguar

I lost my dad at 15, also completely out of the blue, and my heart breaks for these two boys. They have a tough road ahead of them. However, I agree with Scout...it helps to have people rally around you. Even though the paparazzi's invasion is surely distressing, the message is that their mother is loved and admired. A lot of people wrote to me after Dad died and came to his funeral, or visited my house. Unfortunately that doesn't do much when I miss him, but it does comfort me that he made an impact. Love to the family.

CharlesCabacha

Sadly, I'm reminded of Liam's role as a widower in Love Actually when they play the Bay City Rollers "Bye Bye Baby" at his wife's funeral. I've never been skiing before, but the fact that this injury was a result of a beginners lesson and that she apparently walked away from the accident does not encourage me to take to the slopes any time soon.

austinstylewatch

NICE work guys. Might consider rethinking which ads are placed where on your site. Not very clever promoting a tv show called 'Head Case' beside an article based upon neurological failure.

RomanaAchilles