This is such a heartbreaking and tragic story. I have read so many conflicting reports but a few sites have confirmed that she has been taken off of life support. I have been following the story like crazy because I am an avid skiier who does not wear a helmet and has long refused to wear one. So of course my mother and father and some friends have called me today all melodramatic talkin about "Mmm hmm..you see what happened to Natasha Richardson and you refuse to wear a helmet" I still probably won't wear one. I tried it before and it just wasn't working.

Doctors have said that her instance seems to be one of those 1 out of every 100,000 people. I have taken worse falls than she did and was just fine. Its so tragic to think that she fell down on a damn bunny slope,(on what they said was soft snow) got up, was talking and joking not knowing the severity of what was going on in her brain that was leading her to the condition she is in now. Such a tragedy. Poor Vanessa Redgrave and Liam Neeson must be devastated. She has two young sons as well. I tell ya. This is again one of those reminders that life is so precious. We all say that when these things happen and then shortly after get right back up in the petty foolishness of meaningless things. But here is this vibrant 45 year old wife and mother who is now more than likely going to die from a freak accident. Prayers to her loved ones.

Edited to add: Well...I guess it was just a matter of time. Oh my god what a horrible tragedy. A simple and seemingly non threatening fall and bam. I tell ya....I've always said we are all walking time bombs. You just never know. I wonder if an autopsy may show a pre existing condition, but it could very well be what doctors call this "talk and die" syndrome that is rare but happens. My god her poor family. 2 young sons, Liam, Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, sister Joely. There are just no words when something like this happens to someone so young.

She passed away this evening at age 45. Beautiful and talented and a member of an acting dynasty. Victim of a tragic and fluke accident. While alive she definitely lived a full and interesting life, cut tragically short.

Shocking and so sad.

If it kept you alive and well, it was working. There are similar discussions with motorcycle riders who don't want to wear helmets. If I were skiing or riding a cycle I'd err on the side of caution, but that's just me.

It often times takes a celebrity tragedy to make something mandatory, and while I have noticed in recent years that when I go to different ski resorts they recommend wearing a helmet, they could never enforce it. I wonder if it becomes a rule now. It does make one reconsider but I just find it gets in the way. I feel too confined in that damned thing. Plus I already have the goggles on and its just annoying. Surprised I haven't heard from my parents yet. I know its comin.

I was fortunate enough to see her on stage with her mother just two months ago in a one-night benefit staging of A Little Night Music. Reportedly they were recently discussing the prospect of doing the show as a revival. Now it's just a memory that I will cherish, but I sure wish I didn't have to.

Wear the helmet. Your sexy ass is no good without a head attached!

I used to work on a neurotrauma unit- lives are completely changed forever even in mild head injuries. Wear helmets! Wear safety belts!

Also thinking of all of the young men and women coming back with head injuries after the war. It is really an overlooked disability, especially in those without significant physical deficits.

I've been following this story, as well. Very sad. It seems like it was a freak things. People fall on their heads all the time, and for whatever reason things went wrong for her.

I was thinking what a sad irony it is for Liam Neeson who, in the film Love, Actually plays a man (with a young son) who has just lost his wife.

I never got to see Natasha Richardson live, but I do really love her performance as Sally Bowles in Cabaret (for which she won the Tony) which is a great cast CD (Alan Cumming is the Emcee). Her version of "Cabaret" is particularly moving because she doesn't sing it like a happy song. Sally is not happy when she performs that song. You hear the emotion of the character coming though. A woman who is unhappy, but faking it for the sake of her performance. (I hate to hear people sing Cabaret like a happy song. It's not a happy song!)

And indeed, this tragedy just shows you the fragility of life.

NY Times: Natasha Richardson, 45, Stage and Film Star, Dies



That must have been amazing. She played Desirée Armfeldt, who sings Send in the Clowns.

She also (somewhat) recently hosted a fundraiser for AmFAR that was part of the 'Top Chef' season.

Tragic indeed.

Sad, and so shocking. Her poor children; I believe they were there when she took the fall. I know ski resorts don't have helmet rules, but I thought they did enforce them when you are taking a lesson, as Richardson was. That's my recollection of how it's done at a resort I've been to a couple of times in Colorado.

From the reports, it sounds like she was in a situation where helments might not have been considered that vital, so I would bet the option was hers. I do give the resort a lot of credit, they insisted on the Ski Patrol bringing her in and repeatedly advised her to get medical care - to the point she had to sign a waiver indicating she had refused such care to leave the resort. I am sure that liability concerns play a part in their actions, but clearly they were trying to do the right thing.

I think the real message here isn't even about helmets, it's that any time you fall, like we all have on ice in the winter (at least those of us in colder climates), you need to be very careful and not assume you are okay. A basic neurological test might have indicated the problem, had she sought medical care immediately, although as the NBC medical correspondent noted this morning, sometimes freak accidents happen and there is nothing anyone can do. My aunt's brother (she was my aunt by marriage) was clipped in the back of the head by the corner of a side-view mirror after giving directions to a truck's driver and died instantly. The police could never determine exactly how the accident happened, but the truck was barely moving when it happened.

Here at USC I see students riding their bikes with no helmets AND talking on their phones, listening to their Ipods and even texting with no hands on the handlebars while crossing streets with busy traffic. It's gonna take a death here before people realize how dangerous this combo is.

RIP Nat.

FYI

IMDB: Natasha Richardson

I loved the scenes with her and her mother in Evening.

Tonight the lights on Broadway were dimmed for Richardson.

So devastating, she was so young. My heartfelt condolences to all her loved ones.

Since she was on the board of and help raised so much money for AmFar, I guess the family will have to be subjected to those loons from God Hates Fags protesting at the funeral. I hope Liam Neeson gets into his character from his last movie and takes them all out.

I already read that they're planning to be there. I'm amazed these creeps haven't been physically attacked by now -- or if they have, that it doesn't happen more often.

this struck me hard not because she is a famous person and a mother... it's because how death can rob you to say goodbye...
I kiss my bf, always, everymorning before he leaves the house... and I always am afraid that it would be the last time I hear him say goodbye---him or me getting killed on our way to work. I mean what did Natasha's last words to Niam... Honey, Im enjoying my ski lessons, see you soon for dinner...
I go down the basement steps 10-20 times a week, and one day, while my partner was at the top of the steps yakking that he's tired of reminding me to turn the lights out in the basement, as I was coming down, I missed a step ,fell and hit my head on a pole so hard... when he came down to help me, and he said" my last words would have been to you, YOU FORGOT THE LIGHTS IN THE BASEMENT AGAIN...i feel awful".
So now... if I am pissed of with him, I try not to wallow on it too long. Because I don't want our very last thoughts together to be bitter or angry. I just do hope that Natasha and Liam's last words together were "I love you"... because not saying that the very last time must be the hardest thought to bear.

You are so right but how often do we say this after a tragedy, only to forget it soon thereafter? One of my good friends died a few years ago when a blood clot burst and went to his lung and killed him. Early 30s, in the best of shape and bam he was gone. I said the exact same thing after his death....that omg life is so fragile...ya never know when your time will come...yada yada yada. I have said the exact same thing you have only to fall back into it later on. My boyfriend and I argue and I'll hang up on him or walk away angry. I think its just human nature. We take advantage of life. We should be thankful for every day we wake up. We should be thankful for every car ride we take that doesn't end in a fatal accident, for every plane trip we take that doesn't end in a fiery death, for every late night convenience store stop that doesn't end up with you being at the wrong place at the wrong time caught between a robber's bullet, etc etc etc. I know I take too many things for granted. Since Richardson's death I have once again tried to make an effort to not end conversations angry. We usually tell each other "I love you" before hanging up the phone with each other, but not always. But, we are both hot headed men. So when we get angry all of those "rules" go out the window. But, I hear what you're saying. Much Much MUCH easier said than done.

Wow! What an incredible story. Goes to show you that "when it's not your time, it's not your time."

Wow....and that is the only silver lining about Richardson's death. Had Richardson just been a regular vacationer, her story wouldn't have been publicized, and that family would be mourning the loss of their little girl right now. I mean come on. How many people bump their heads hard or fall while skiing all the time? I know I have taken tumbles harder than she took and I never once requested emergency help. I never developed any kind of symptoms though so I guess my mother and boyfriend are right about me being hard headed. But that is an amazing story. I didn't even hear about that until just now surfing through old posts.