Is it possible that if she went to the hospital right away after the fall, that they doctors could have done something?
I feel terribly sad right now. May she rest in peace.
I feel terribly sad right now. May she rest in peace.
A potentially life-saving ambulance was dispatched to the ski hill where actress Natasha Richardson suffered a critical fall on Monday, but the emergency workers were turned away and told they weren't needed, a paramedic says.
Yves Coderre, director of operations at the company which sent the medics to Mont Tremblant, says ski patrollers requested an ambulance after Ms. Richardson had fallen and suffered serious injuries.
The medical workers rushed to the hill but told they were unneeded, Mr. Coderre said in an interview, citing preliminary information he has received.
"They never saw the patient," said Mr. Coderre, whose company, Ambulances Radisson, serves Mont Tremblant. "So they turned around."
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The retreat may have ultimately cost Ms. Richardson dearly. Mr. Coderre, who has 23 years' experience as a paramedic, says victims of head trauma often make the potentially fatal mistake of believing they are fine.
"When you have a head trauma you can bleed. It can deteriorate in a few hours or a few days.
"People don't realize it can be very serious. We warn them they can die and sometimes they start to laugh. They don't take it seriously."
Mr. Coderre said an ambulance was called later to Ms. Richardson's five-star hotel near the base of Mont Tremblant. By that point, she was conscious but "wasn't in good shape" and was rushed to hospital.
Ms. Richardson's tumble on the slopes was the talk of the ski hill at Mont Tremblant Tuesday, which was bathed in the same soft sunshine and spring-like snow conditions that Ms. Richardson had been enjoying before her accident.
The Nansen run where Ms. Richardson fell was filled with children and novice skiers who were drawn, like the British-born actress, to the gentle grade of the hill.
Many were perplexed how such a critical injury could have occurred on the "green"(beginner)-level hill. But others say the conditions on Monday were far from ideal and could have confounded a novice.
Mont Tremblant was filled with families from Ontario on March break.\
