Natsha Richardson, dead at 45

[BaalChatzaf]

Natasha Richardson, a talented actress and one of the Redgrave clan, is dead at 45. She died from a head injury sustained while skiiing. It should be noted she did not wear protective headgear.

I remember her performance in -The Handmaid's Tale-. She was a fine actress.

Ba'al Chatzaf

Edited March 19, 2009 by BaalChatzaf

[Chris Grieb]

Her death sounds like a good reason to wear head gear while skiing.

I suspect I've seen her but don't remember anything.

[galtgulch]

Her death sounds like a good reason to wear head gear while skiing.

I suspect I've seen her but don't remember anything.

Chris,

I am not a neurologist nor a trauma specialist. I gather from the newspaper reports that she was on a beginners slope when she fell. She did not lose consciousness and was alert and asymptomatic at first, got up and said she was all right. An hour later she complained of a headache and was taken to hospital in a major city in Canada before being transferred to Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.

No information was released about the cause of death in her NYTimes obituary, nor about whatever treatment she received.

I gather it is not unusual for a subdural hematoma to manifest this way with no symptoms at first. It is not unusual for a person to be sent home from an ER after a seemingly minor head injury only to return the next day with headache and findings on CAT scan or MRI whereas there were no findings at first. A subdural hematoma can start small and take hours or days to enlarge enough to cause symptoms.

Natasha evidently suffered a fracture of the temporal bone of the skull, which damaged the meningeal artery causing an epidural bleed. This is my understanding of what was found on autopsy.

This is all speculation and we may never know what injury she sustained. A subdural can be operated on with a good survival rate. We don't know if that is what she had or if so, whether surgery was done.

We don't know how her head struck the ground and whether head gear would have made any difference. One could still sustain damage to the blood vessels around the brain without a skull fracture because the brain will keep moving even after the skull stops causing tears in blood vessels in the subarachnoid space. This could happen even with head gear on. A so called contra coup injury occurs opposite the point of trauma in this way.

How tragic. Those who were close to her are certainly grief stricken and will hurt for the rest of their lives.

www.campaignforliberty.com 19Mar 5:57PM 124457, 9PM 124635, 10PM 124690, 11PM 124705; 20Mar

gulch

Edited March 20, 2009 by galtgulch

[Chris Grieb]

I have since found out she was in the new verison of "The Parent Trap".

She came from a great family. She was too young.

[galtgulch]

I have since found out she was in the new verison of "The Parent Trap".

She came from a great family. She was too young.

Reminds me of Sonny Bono who died when he skied into a tree and then a Kennedy died the same way.

All Natasha did was fall on a beginner's slope!

The last half of this video tempts fate but is awesome:

http://www.wimp.com/basejumpers

gulch

[pbmaltzman]

I believe I read that they've done an autopsy, but I can't remember what the results were. However, you can probably find it on either Yahoo, Drudge, or a number of other news websites. Or just Google her name.

[Selene]

Gulch:

Accurate analysis. I unfortunately have been involved in a number of "shaken baby" cases in the last 18 years, one where I was retained by the mom. Knew the husband's atty well and he was tough, competent and at least had style in the courtroom. I also knew the law guardian well and he was quite a bit less than competent and completely political, but he was relatively honest.

The complexities of the spinal configurations and impact levels, angles, prior unnoticed injuries, genetics and significant other variables make these cases a forensic nightmare.

Sadly a good soul as far as I know has left life.

Adam

[galtgulch]

Gulch:

Accurate analysis. I unfortunately have been involved in a number of "shaken baby" cases in the last 18 years, one where I was retained by the mom. Knew the husband's atty well and he was tough, competent and at least had style in the courtroom. I also knew the law guardian well and he was quite a bit less than competent and completely political, but he was relatively honest.

The complexities of the spinal configurations and impact levels, angles, prior unnoticed injuries, genetics and significant other variables make these cases a forensic nightmare.

Sadly a good soul as far as I know has left life.

Adam

Adam,

I edited my comment above to include what was found at autopsy, an epidural bleed. Skull fractures are more likely to cause epidural bleeds from torn arteries which run just under the skull outside the dura. I doubted that a simple fall on a beginners slope would cause a fractured skull with an arterial bleed but the temporal bone is the thinnest part of the skull on the side of the head and is therefore more vulnerable.

What was God thinking when he placed the meningeal artery right near the thinnest part of the skull?

Sorry. Last night I watched a video by scientists in the creation vs evolution debate and one of them pointed out how improperly designed humans are from the standpoint of a competent engineer suggesting this as a kind of confirmation of the evolutionist viewpoint. Here is the link:

http://tinyurl.com/dhqglt

My thoughts are of Natasha and those who knew and loved her.

www.campaignforliberty.com 20Mar 6AM 124838

When I pass someone who says, "What's new!" I answer, "campaignforliberty.com" In this way the day gets closer when there will be millions and then tens of millions of us!

gulch

[Chris Grieb]

You really do end every post with the Campaign For Liberty. Gulch thy name is "one track".

[galtgulch]

You really do end every post with the Campaign For Liberty. Gulch thy name is "one track".

Chris,

So Natasha was taken first to a hospital in Montreal. As I understand it the advocates of single payer, which is a euphemism for socialized medicine, tout the Canadian system as superior to ours. Unfortunately Natasha was not treated from what we can tell at that hospital in Montreal possibly at the request of her family who wanted her to get the best care and took her to Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan on the Upper East Side.

Well it turns out that her condition required immediate attention and if the proper diagnosis had been made in Montreal the doctors should have advised immediate surgery rather than taking valuable time to move her to New York. An Epidural Hematoma grows larger as the bleed from the torn artery worsens and does its damage by putting pressure on vital cells in the brain which control breathing.

It is conceivable that she was asymptomatic when she was seen at the hospital and may have refused the kind of study which would have revealed the presence of the epidural hematoma. But we just don't know.

It is just even more tragic that she had a treatable condition which was life threatening but could have been resolved with surgery if diagnosed expeditiously and treated on the spot. The family should have been advised against the move and for the immediate corrective procedure.

Whether it is justifiable to blame the health care system in Canada as tempting as it is remains to be seen. Perhaps readers of The Objectivist Newsletter recall how Ayn Rand warned us in her article about the beginning of socialized medicine in Saskatchewan when doctors were warned that if they tried to leave the province they would be drafted at the border into the military! And so the enslavement of doctors by socialized medicine became revealed for the horror it is and would be here.

Perhaps that is one reason I end each of my posts with an update on the membership of the Campaign For Liberty which is like the modern day equivalent of the Minutemen during the American Revolution.

20 Mar 6AM 124838, 11PM 125317; 21 Mar 7AM 125506, 9AM 125525; 23Mar 126919

i am alarmed by events as if we are caught in a maelstrom and had better act while there is still time to alter our course to avoid being sucked into the vortex from which recovery would be impossible. Evidently no one here shares my sense of urgency. We are going to lose so much. Many have lost their jobs which is a nightmare for them. The politicians promise a future of prosperity which is unlikely to happen given their policies which will destroy the value of the dollar, cause a hyperinflation which will wipe out the middle class, cause a major depression which will last for at least a decade, lead to a govt which will grap more power over the industries, the schools, the health care, the energy industry, in short we are on the verge of this country becoming a totalitarian dictatorship!

Maybe you should reread Atlas Shrugged before you will believe what is happening. It is a shame because we all know the antidote exists between Objectivist ideas and Austrian economics to oversimplify.

gulch

Edited March 24, 2009 by galtgulch

[Brant Gaede]

In 1987 the wife of my uncle fell down a flight of stairs and hit her head. Because she didn't get immediate proper attention she effectively got a stroke and spent the last six years of her life in a nursing home.

After he was President, Ronald Reagen fell off his horse in Mexico and had a head injury. Because of bleeding on the brain, the doctors inserted a shunt to drain off the blood and he completely recovered.

As you get older your brain slightly shrinks leaving more space between the brain and skull. A very young person may bang his head and suffer nothing. An older person may be killed because the physical presence of the brain itself is no longer enough to prevent the excessive bleeding that can cause permanent debilitation or even death.

I remember as a very young boy walking atop a stone fence in Columbus, Ohio and tripping on a protrusion and falling on the top of my head on the sidewalk below. It was a really bad blow and hurt like hell. I shook it off and walked on home refusing offers of help. I used to think I suffered no ill effects, but now I'm inclined to wonder. I mean, my Dad had a genius IQ, but I don't!

--Brant

[kiaer.ts]

One of my favorite all-time movies, Nell, starred Richardson and the man she then married, Liam Neeson. It is a wonderful tale about the sanctity of the individual. I recommend it most highly.

[Chris Grieb]

Like the also recently deceased Ron Silver Natsha Richardson was more than just a movie actress. She appeared in both straight drama and did a musical, Cabaret, and her movie roles. She will be missed.

[tjohnson]

As I understand it the advocates of single payer, which is a euphemism for socialized medicine, tout the Canadian system as superior to ours.

I for one see problems with the healthcare in both countries.

[galtgulch]

As I understand it the advocates of single payer, which is a euphemism for socialized medicine, tout the Canadian system as superior to ours.

I for one see problems with the healthcare in both countries.

Gen Sem,

That makes two of us! Its so easy to be outnumbered in this world! Hard to find kindred spirits as well, until I decided on a career in science or applied science. At least then most of my colleagues were not completely mystical but many were and still are..

www.campaignforliberty.com 24Mar 6PM 127598

gulch

Edited March 24, 2009 by galtgulch