Liam's tears as wife Natasha fights for life
NATASHA RICHARDSON was flown to a specialist hospital in the United States last night after suffering a devastating brain injury in a skiing accident in Canada.
The 45-year-old Redgrave family actress, who is married to actor Liam Neeson, was taken by private jet from an intensive care unit in Montreal to the hospital in New York, where her distraught family gathered at her bedside.
Mother-of-two Natasha had been enjoying a skiing lesson on the nursery slopes in the upmarket resort of Mont Tremblant, when she fell and banged her head.
Initially she laughed off a seemingly harmless tumble. But within hours she began to complain of a headache and was rushed to hospital.
Neeson, 56, who starred in Schindler’s List, immediately flew to her bedside from Toronto, where he has been filming his latest movie.
The Irish-born star looked horrified as he awaited news on her condition at the Montreal hospital.
As the seriousness of her injuries became apparent, he broke down in tears and had to be comforted by medical staff and family members.
When our ski patrol looked at her, she was laughing and joking
Several hours after arriving at the Montreal hospital, the decision was taken to move Natasha back to the US where her mother Vanessa Redgrave and other family were anxiously awaiting news.
Natasha, who has two sons Michael, 13, and Daniel Jack, 12, had been enjoying a short holiday in Mont Tremblant.
Witnesses said she was coming to the end of her lesson when she lost her balance and took what was described as a “light fall”.
She had not been wearing a helmet but had insisted she was unhurt and asked to go back to her hotel.
Around an hour after the fall, Natasha began to complain of a severe headache and an ambulance was called which took her to the nearby Centre Hospitalier.
While she was there her condition worsened and she was transferred to Montreal.
A spokesman for the resort, which is a favourite among stars like Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas, said: “When our ski patrol looked at her, she was laughing and joking.
“They told her to see someone but she insisted that she was fine and just wanted to go back to her room. She signed a paper saying she didn’t want to see a doctor.
“She was not wearing a helmet. The law in Quebec does not require it but we always suggest it but cannot impose it. There were no signs of impact and no blood, nothing.”
Natasha had been preparing to appear on stage in New York alongside her mother in a Broadway revival of A Little Night Music.
In Britain, actress Kika Markham, 65, who is married to Natasha’s uncle Corin Redgrave, said: “This is awful, we don’t know what is happening. All we can do is just wait for news.”
Natasha’s younger sister Joely, 44, looked deeply upset as she left her home in Bayswater, West London, yesterday afternoon.
The Nip/Tuck star, who was wearing dark sunglasses, refused to comment as she got into a waiting chauffeur-driven car.
