Natasha Richardson Flown to New York With Ski Injuries

Natasha Richardson Flown to New York With Ski Injuries
Natasha Richardson Accident
By PATRICK HEALY and IAN AUSTEN

The Tony-award winning actress Natasha Richardson was flown from Canada to New York City on Tuesday afternoon in serious condition with head injuries suffered the day before in a skiing accident north of Montreal, according to two people close to her family.

The people, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, declined to describe Ms. Richardson’s condition before or during the flight, other than to say it was very serious and that her family was highly distressed. They said the plane had arrived in New York by Tuesday evening, but declined to say where Ms. Richardson was being treated.

Ms. Richardson, 45, is married to the actor Liam Neeson and is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and the director Tony Richardson, who died in 1991. Mr. Neeson was seen crouched inside an ambulance beside his wife on Tuesday afternoon at Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, as she lay heavily wrapped in blankets with tubes around her face.

Throughout the day on Tuesday, there were conflicting reports about Ms. Richardson’s medical condition, and by evening, the precise nature and gravity of Ms. Richardson’s condition could not be officially confirmed.

At 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, Ms. Redgrave was seen walking into Lenox Hill Hospital wearing a scarf and looking somber; representatives of Ms. Richardson would not confirm that she was a patient there.

Her business representatives and a spokesman for the family said they did not have any information to make public. Officials of the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal declined to discuss her condition, citing privacy rules.

Lyne Lortie, a spokeswoman for the Mont Tremblant ski resort in the Laurentian Hills north of Montreal, said Ms. Richardson had fallen during a beginner’s lesson. She was not wearing a helmet at the time, she said.

“It was a normal fall; she didn’t hit anyone or anything,” Ms. Lortie said. “She didn’t show any signs of injury; she was talking and she seemed all right.”

As a precaution, when she left the slopes, Ms. Richardson was accompanied by a member of the resort’s ski patrol and her instructor, who then remained with her at a hotel.

When she started having headaches about an hour later, she was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Ste. Agathe, Quebec, about 20 minutes from the resort. Ms. Lortie said that Ms. Richardson was transferred to the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal later in the afternoon.

Ms. Richardson won a Tony in 1998 for her performance in “Cabaret.” Her film performances include roles in “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Parent Trap.” She and Mr. Neeson married in 1994 and have two children.

Mathew R. Warren contributed reporting.

source :http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/theater/18richardson.html?ref=nyregion