Details Regarding Richardson Accident

Details are sketchy regarding Natasha Richardson's condition. Time Out New York reported earlier today the British actress and wife of actor Liam Neeson had passed away but then retracted the statement saying that family sources confirm that the 45 year old is "brain dead and will not survive."

PEOPLE has more information regarding the accident:

Actress Natasha Richardson, reportedly in serious condition with head trauma in a Montréal hospital after a ski accident Monday at Mont Tremblant, was walking around and feeling fine for an hour after her accident, a spokesperson from the ski resort says.

"She was laughing and joking and she walked to her room on her own," Mont Tremblant spokesperson Catherine Lacasse says.

The British-born Richardson, 45, was not wearing a ski helmet when she was taking a private ski lesson on the Nansen, a beginners' run at Mont Tremblant. When she was near the bottom of the run in a section know as the flats, she fell down. According to the spokeswoman, Richardson did not hit anyone or anything before coming to a stop.

"She was accompanied by an experienced ski instructor who immediately called the ski patrol," according to a statement from the resort.

Lacasse tells PEOPLE that there were no cuts, bleeding or other external signs of injury. Ski patrollers assisted Richardson and helped her to her room. She was not put on a stretcher.

About an hour after the fall, Richardson started complaining of headaches. She went to a nearby hospital and was later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit of Sacré Coeur Hospital. (A spokesperson for the hospital would not confirm or deny that Richardson was a patient there.)


I've always liked Natasha Richardson and hope that Time Out New York is wrong and that she survives this horrible accident.