As the loved ones of Natasha Richardson continue to mourn, a family decision made in the wake of the Tony-winning actress’s sudden death March 18 has brought a measure of comfort: After Richardson was taken off life support at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital, her family requested that her organs be donated to other patients whose lives they might save.

Organ donation “is very Natasha,” a family friend says in the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday. “She spent so much time fighting the stigma of AIDS; someone like that would naturally donate her organs. At least by donating her organs something good could come out of [the tragedy].”

Richardson, 45, died after falling during a ski lesson at a Canadian resort on March 16. An autopsy performed in New York City showed that a blow to her head had caused a fatal epidural hematoma, bleeding between her brain and her skull.

In the days since Richardson’s death, her husband of 14 years, actor Liam Neeson, 56, and the couple’s sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, have shown remarkable public poise in dealing with the tragedy. “Liam is doing okay,” says family friend Blaine Trump. “It takes a while to absorb this. But he says the family needs to move forward. They will take it one step at a time.”

The Irish actor was expected to return to work on the Toronto set of his upcoming drama Chloe, and the boys were headed back to school. “With good friends by their side,” says Trump, “they will get through the tough days ahead.”

Source

Liam Neeson and Vanessa Redgrave gathered to watch New York City’s Broadway lights dim for Natasha Richardson, who died Wednesday after a tragic skiing accident.

Joined by actor friends Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick during the touching tribute, Neeson shielded his eyes under a baseball cap, the London Telegraph reports.

The New York City Medical Examiner told Usmagazine.com Thursday Richardson, 45, died from a “blunt impact to the head” after the Monday tumble near Montreal. Her family released a statement Wednesday saying they were “shocked and devastated.”

On Thursday, her uncle Corin Redgrave said he hoped she would be remembered as a “wonderful, very glamorous person and a very beautiful person.”

Broadway star Patrick Wilson told Us Richardson was “a fantastic talent” at the revival of West Side Story Thursday night.

Although Richardson starred in movies — and wed her husband after Nell – she was acclaimed for her theater work, and won a Tony after appearing as Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

Said In The Heights actress Lin Manuel Miranda: “It’s a tragic loss…I was a huge fan of her work. So it’s just really unbelievably sad. I wanted to see her next thing.”

Kathleen Turner told Us, “I’m just heartsick.

“I loved her. We knew each other, we liked each other. I admired her work, she admired mine. I thought she was a terrific person. It’s just shocking.”

Source

The New York City medical examiner has made a ruling on what exactly killed Natasha Richardson.

Following an autospy this morning, the agency determined that the Tony Award-winning actress succumbed to an “epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the head.” The death was ruled an accident, said medical examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove.

A private memorial is being planned by the Greenwich Village Funeral Home.

The 45-year-old stage and screen star died Wednesday, two days after what was described as a minor fall during ski lessons on a beginner slope.

Richardson was lucid following the tumble Monday at the Mont Tremblant resort near Montreal. “She did not show any visible sign of injury, but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor,” a spokeswoman for the resort told E! News.

But, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail, paramedics were turned back after being informed they were not needed.

“They never saw the patient, so they turned around,” said Yves Coderre, director of operations at Ambulances Radisson, the emergency services company for the resort.

Coderre said another ambulance was later called to the five-star hotel where the Tony-winning actress returned with her two sons afterward. But by then, even though she was still conscious, Richardson’s condition had worsened fast, most likely from bleeding in her brain, said the medic.

“When you have a head trauma you can bleed, it can deteriorate in a few hours or a few days,” he said. “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.”

In any case, by the time she was hospitalized, Richardson slipped into unconsciousness and was later declared brain dead before doctors could take decisive action to stem the bleeding.

Husband Liam Neeson rushed to her bedside and had her flown to New York City Tuesday afternoon. Family members, including mother Vanessa Redgrave, sister Joely Richardson and aunt Lynn Redgrave, gathered to spend their final hours with Richardson.

She was removed from life support yesterday afternoon and the family announced her death late in the evening.

Source

I love this movie. I watch it with my kids every time it’s on the Disney Channel.

Lindsay Lohan was 12 when she shot to child stardom in The Parent Trap. But she wasn’t too young to remember who helped her rise.

“She was a wonderful woman and actress and treated me like I was her own,” the now 22-year-old starlet said of former costar Natasha Richardson, who died Wednesday from head trauma apparently suffered in a skiing accident two days before.

“I didn’t see much of her over the years but I will miss her,” Lohan added. “My heart goes out to her family. This is a tragic loss.”

Richardson played Lohan’s prim British mom in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap who, with the help of Lohan-times-two finds love again with her ex, played by Dennis Quaid.

In life, Richardson’s survivors include her husband of 14 years, Liam Neeson, sons Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12, mother Vanessa Redgrave, sister Joely Richardson and aunt Lynn Redgrave.

Source

Liam Neeson and his family have just released the following statement about the passing of Natasha Richardson:

“Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

TMZ

As Natasha Richardson remained in a New York hospital, her family and friends had all but given up hope that she’ll recover from a severe head injury.

“There is no chance,” a family friend told PEOPLE on Tuesday night. “It is a fact that her heart is beating but she is brain dead.”

Her dire condition – doctors described it to those close to Richardson as “leakage of blood between the brain and skull,” the friend says – has the actress’s family coming to grips with potentially having to make an unthinkably difficult decision. “It’s not official yet,” says the friend, “but they basically will detach her.”

Richardson, 45, the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave, suffered a devastating head injury Monday while skiing on a beginner’s slope outside Montreal during a trip with at least one of her two sons. Her husband, Liam Neeson, 56, raced from a Toronto movie set to be with her as she was hospitalized.

On Tuesday, a private jet brought them both to New York, where family and friends gathered for a vigil. Reps for the family have declined to comment on Richardson’s medical condition.

Source

More from TMZ:

TMZ has obtained information about Natasha Richardson’s ambulance ride in New York to Lenox Hill Hospital — she was “unconscious,” her pupils “non-reactive,” her skin was “pale” and she was suffering from “major head trauma.”

We’re told her husband Liam Neeson held her hand the entire time and caressed her face as he sat in silence.

We’re also told when the plane landed in New Jersey, medics on board told members of the ambulance team that Richardson was “brain dead.”

From the New York Post:

Actress Natasha Richardson is brain dead – after falling in a ski accident in Canada – and is now on sad journey home to New York, friends told The Post today.

Richardson, who was being treated at a Montreal hospital, is being transported to New York this afternoon so her mom Vanessa Redgrave, two children and other loved ones can say goodbye before she’s taken off life-support, friends said.

Redgrave was in London when the accident happened but arrived in New York today to see her gravely injured daughter, sources said.

Liam Neeson, husband of the Broadway and screen star, left shooting of his movie in Toronto to rush to Richardson’s side in Montreal and now on the trip home.

The British-born Richardson, 45, fell during a private lesson at Mont Tremblant resort yesterday and allegedly told resort employees she felt fine.

But an hour later, she complained of an extreme headache and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Richardson was on a beginner’s slope and reportedly not wearing a helmet when she fell – although headgear is not required.

“She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor,” said a statement from the resort, which is almost 80 miles northwest of Montreal.

“Approximately an hour after the incident Mrs. Richardson was not feeling good.”

Richardson was initially taken to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Sainte Agathe and was later transferred to Hopital du Sacre-Coeur in Montreal.

The actress – who is the elder daughter of Oscar-winner Vanessa Redgrave and late director Tony Richardson – comes from a long line of noted British players.

Maternal grandparents Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, uncle and aunt Corin Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave are all actors.

Sister Joely Richardson currently has a recurring role in the FX show “Nip/Tuck.”

Natasha Richardson was mostly recently on TV as a guest judge on the Bravo hit “Top Chef.”

She also appeared in the 1994 movie “Nell” alongside future husband Neeson. They were married a short time later and they have two sons.

The elder son, Michael, 13, was with Richardson on the slopes, while the younger Daniel, 12, was here in New York when the accident happened, friends said.

Richardson reached her Broadway peak in 1998, winning the Tony for playing Sally Bowles in “Cabaret.”

Richardson is close friends with her ex-husband Robert Fox and he’s expected to be with her today.

Source