R.I.P.
March 18th, 2009 by Wendie
It was reported, then unreported, but sadly, now it is confirmed. Forty-five year old actress Natasha Richardson has passed away as a result of injuries sustained in a skiing accident on Monday.
The family released the following statement:
“Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”
It’s so odd how ones words can end up being so prophetic. In 2002, Richardson spoke about her husband and a serious motorcycle accident he was involved in: “It was such a shock, and I was so far away, filming a TV mini- series in Canada. I thought he was going to die. I no longer take anything for granted. Now I understand how fragile life is.”
Richardson is survived by her husband, actor Liam Neeson and sons Micheál and Daniel. In addition, Natasha Richardson was the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and sister of Joely Richardson.
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My prayers go out to her sons and husband, may God bless them with peace and acceptance. She was a beautiful woman, and a wonderful mother. I only have kind memories of her and her beautiful family. She will be missed.
Wait a sec – Where does it said she died??
I haven’t found any reports of an actual death just yet – just critical injury.
I fixed my link. Gawker, New York Times, etc.
This is so, so sad. My thoughts are with the family.
I’m actually going to put this back in draft mode. NYT has pulled their story.
CNN says yes.
Rest in peace.
I have been a great Wendie supporter but what a show of poor taste to pull a story and repost comments from 9am. Those should have been trashed, in my opinion. Since this story has been sitting at the ready, waiting for this lady to die, pre-written, it now seems sort of vulture-like. Just sayin’, tsk tsk. TACKY.
Wendie pulled her story because her source pulled their story. RIP Natasha.
Uummm, every news outlet in the country has pre-written obits on all the big names so I think you need to check yourself. This is no different. Goes on all the time.
It’s sad but true. That’s the way media works people.
Actually, the text was re-written. Picture was the same…that’s about it. If I had deleted my original draft with comments, commenters would have accused me of covering up my original publishing of the story when it was incorrectly reported by Time Out New York.
Bottom line? This is one. Sad. Story.
This fucking sucks. I feel so bad for her family. This sucks.
omg, this is so sad. why is it that so many good people are passing away. she seemed like a lovely woman, mother and wife. so sad.
i feel like this is so surreal, like it’s not really true. the media is really confusing the public with this story. in other case, i sort of wish this isn’t true
No one can seem to figure out whether this is true or not.
If so, poor family. That sucks, I was hoping she would pull through.
Before I say anything…is this true or not? I’ve gotten so many mixed reports. But comcast.net says that she is dead too, and they usually know.
Now to the horrible sadness.
:(
This is truly truly terrible. Rest in peace Natasha — my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
:(
Shit, no…
This has me more upset than celebrity deaths in the past have. I’ve been wishing and hoping that she’d get better. I think it’s just that she represents so much of what I love about the serious women in theatre, the kind of women that are few and far between these days. We’re losing an unbelievable talent.
:(
She was the type of woman that you’d want to emulate. She loved her family and they loved her back. This is truly awful. I was hoping she get better too.
This is just so sad. What a tragic loss. Her poor family.
So sad, my heart goes out to her family. Life is too short sometimes.
“Sometimes, when one person is absent, the whole world seems depopulated.”
Allphonse de Lamartine
True words. Rest my friend.
what a beautiful quote. thank you.
Oh my. How horrifically awful. All the best to the family.
It is really really sad…
I have prayed for her when I heard about the accident… but it seems that prayers can’t save people who have such injuries… I’m really sad for Liam Neeson and for his two boys, I hope that paparazzi will let them alone.
God bless them.
I find this so so so sad. What a lovely woman with a lovely family. I hope her family can pull together and find some peace!
CNN has a good obit
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/18/obit.richardson/index.html
so scary how it happened. Especially that she seemed fine right after the accident. My thoughts and prayers go to the family. I hope everyone leaves them alone and gives them time to heal.
Its always dangerous to hurt your head. You can start bleeding inside without anyone knowing. Like this lady did. Always go to the hospital if your head hurts even a little bit after a hit.
RIP.
This is just awful. Natasha played Sally Bowles on broadway years ago in the best revival version of the production.
I’m playing Sally in May in a community theatre production of the show. This is quite eerie, I’ve been listening to Natasha’s recording for weeks now. I can’t believe she’s left us. I hope I do her justice.
It really sucks that people like this are lost to freak accidents while other wastes of space abuse drugs, act recklessly all the time, and somehow keep cheating death. Life can be so unfair.
Her kids must be beside themselves. So when you see Puss in boots pAArtying hard, no kiddos, puts things into perspective. This woman was a mother, and wife and was something of substance. Not out trying to get attention, or showing her rebellious side, she was just skiing. I feel so sorry for her family…and I hugged my kiddos a little longer tonight, cause I can.
Well put, I was thinking along the same lines.
She was a great actress, a good person with a loving family.
She would have been acting into her eighties,
had she not had the accident.
Whereas someone like Lindsay Lohan is just an “actress”
because she’s young and pretty.
She’ll be washed up when she begins to age,
if she hasn’t OD’d by then.
Dam. Skiing is some dangerous shit. Sonny Bono, Michael Kennedy, now her. Geez, remind me not to take up this hobby.
She’s just too dam young to be gone.
Jennifer, it was a head injury cause by the fall because she didn’t have a helmet. I think other sports are much more risky than skiing.
I can’t believe this! I’m never skiing again!
Erin, they said this happened because she skied without a ski helmet. Make sure you wear one next time.
Well thats pretty stupid. I suppose you dont drive/ride in a car either since hundreds of people die in car accidents everyday, right?
It would make more sense. A better suggestion would be to always wear a helmet, and ALWAYS get checked out by a doctor when you suffer any injury to your head.
This is so, so terrible. She was an amazing actress. This just shows how you never know….
My prayers to her family, and much much love!
Maybe helmets need to be an acceptable part of the ski wear ensemble. Better to look like a douche than be dead!
This is terrible sad news. My thoughts are certainly with her family and friends.
I have been a ski instructor for the past 10 years and have not read whether or not she was wearing a helmet…but I am assuming no. For those of you who ski…go buy a helmet and please do not let your kids on the mountain to ski or board without a helmet. I have seen numerous head injuries that would have been 100% preventable.
I second this comment. A few years ago my boyfriend finally made me buy a ski helmet, that same day I caught an edge smacked my head on ice, despite my helmet I gave myself enough of a concussion to have a black eye and spend the night in the hospital. I shudder to think of what would have happened without that helmet. Best 100 bucks I ever spent.
That being said, this is SO sad… She will be missed.
This really makes me sad. My father had a head injury that wasn’t treated at the time of his accident. There was a slow bleed that he lived with for weeks. We finally started noticing strange behavior. He was taken to Dallas for emergency brain surgery and survived.
It’s amazing what the brain can take, and what can just be too much. I watched this story all day yesterday and today, hoping for the best. I hope that her close family will be comforted by each other and the fact that she was a loved and respected woman throughout the world.
I knew unfortunetly this would be the outcome to this. Being a trauma nurse for many years I have seen this injury many times and it is always heartbreaking. Many prayers to her family. I don’t really know what else to say. Devastating-peace be with you all
please post my comment. It was heartfelt
my real comment
Ok -response to myself. I’ve seen this injury so many times in my years as a trauma nurse. It truly breaks my heart. Peace be with you all
This is such a sad think. My heart goes out to her loved ones.
This is such a sad thing. My heart goes out to her loved ones.
Okay help me -I’m doing something wrong with my posts. Please don’ t post this- let me know what I’ m doing wrong thanks
Amen Cubs fan. If everyone wears a helmet on the slopes, we’ll all look like a douche together. Should be mandatory.
Over half the skiers/boarders who died on the hills last year were wearing helmets. NSAA says there is no evidence that wearing a helmet saves lives. I’d say they can prevent a serious headache for sure, but most accidents are blunt force trauma to the heart. HIt a tree at 20 at mph and the helmet won’t save you. If anything they give a false sense of security, especially for the 11-21 set, who of course think they’re immune to death anyway. I sense the autopsy report will show that Richardson died not of blunt injury but twisted neck that severed an artery to the head. Not likely the helmet would have saved her in what is undoubtedly a freakish, yet tragic accident. I feel for her guy and sons.
I say boycott Liz Smith. She showed no respect for the family. It was not her place to release the info.
Stay strong family of Natasha Richardson.
I have no idea who she is, but I always hate to hear about someone dying. :(
Rest in Peace, I hope your sons know you’ll be watching over them.
hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Of course, tragic.
Does anyone else thinks she looks like Kim Cattrall?
This IS SO TERRIBLY SAD!! I pray they are given strength to deal with this immense loss and pain. My heart goes out to the Richardson/Neeson family.
So very sad. My thoughts and well wishes to her family and friends.
One more proof that life’s a real bitch who really SUCKS. Rest in peace, sweet angel!
This is incredibly sad. I think what makes it even sadder was the ordinariness of how it happened. How many of us have simply fallen and hit our head? It just shows how fragile, we as human beings are. My thoughts go out to her family and may they know how much she was appreciated. We all need to appreciate our lives, and each other a little more often.