Quebec Docs Push to Make Ski Helmets Mandatory

$10 helmet could have saved actress' life

(NEWSER) - Natasha Richardson turned down a $10 ski helmet that could have saved her life, workers at the Mont Tremblant ski resort tell the Sun. Employees say the actress was cheerful but a little nervous ahead of the ski lesson that led to her fatal fall. She told staff she wasn't a good skier but declined the offer to rent protective headgear. More»

Celeb's ski accident renews debate on safety gear

(NEWSER) - Natasha Richardson’s crippling accident while taking beginner's lessons has renewed the ski-helmet debate, the New York Times reports. Safety gear is more popular today—43% of Americans donned helmets last ski season, up from 25% 5 years prior—but still not required. Critics point out that fatalities haven’t decreased despite the precaution, and they worry that perceived security could encourage more reckless behavior. More»

(NEWSER) - Doctors in Quebec, where Natasha Richardson took her fatal ski-slope tumble, have been arguing since the 1990s for emergency air transport that might have saved her life, CNN reports. Care was delayed not only by the slow manifestation of symptoms from the epidural hematoma she suffered, but also by the lack of helicopter transport. She did not arrive at a qualified hospital until 6 hours after the accident. More»

When ambulance was called again, actress 'wasn't in good shape'

(NEWSER) - Potentially life-saving paramedics were turned away before they could examine Natasha Richardson after the Canadian ski accident that claimed her life, reports the Globe and Mail. Ski patrollers had requested an ambulance after the actress stuck her head in a fall on a beginners slope at Mont Tremblant in Quebec, said a spokesman for the ambulance company. "They never saw the patient,” he said. “So they turned around.” More»

Head injury from ski fall caused delayed bleeding in the brain

(NEWSER) - The head injury Natasha Richardson sustained in a skiing accident produced what doctors call "walk and die" syndrome, a UCLA neurologist tells the Los Angeles Times. Patients in such cases at first seem fine, walking and talking normally, but they swiftly deteriorate due to delayed bleeding from an artery in the brain, which can push the brain left or right and leak into the brainstem. More»