Natasha Richardson

Leroy Ambrose

Just heard on the news that its been confirmed she has died. Very sad news - a beautiful, intelligent woman whose talent was infinitely greater than most of the 'actresses' working today. She got slaughtered in the press for The Handmaid's Tale but I actually thought it was a very good film - and her performance was fantastic. Gutted.

Charlton Till I Cry

Really, thats terrible. Always liked Liam Nesson too always seemed a decent bloke. Very very sad news.

Chirpy Red

Very sad, when someone your own age dies, whatever the circumstances or their status, always hits home.
She had two sons the same age as mine, really awful for her whole family.

Leroy Ambrose

[cite]Posted By: Chirpy Red[/cite]Very sad, when someone your own age dies, whatever the circumstances or their status, always hits home.
She had two sons the same age as mine, really awful for her whole family.

Bloke at work said exactly the same earlier today - he's 46 and got two sons (11 and 13). Not sure why, but this has affected me more than pretty much any other 'celebrity' death in the past few years.

Chirpy Red

I think when you can relate to age and family circumstances in such tragedies you hear of, you subconsciously put yourself in that position, just for a second or two- but it certainly sends a shiver.

Henry Irving

RIP

mid_life_crisis

RIP

stilladdicted

RIP. She had to cope with her father's death from Aids related diseases and became uncomfortable as her mother threw herself into political activism. She had overcome so much and emerged from the shadows of the Redgrave dynasty to build her own life and commit herself to Aids charities. Cruel and very sad. RIP and my condolences to her family.

adamtheaddick

RIP x

pilchard

RIP

LargeAddick

very, very sad. RIP.

GreenGoblin

Very sad.The number of times I've skied without a helmet.Frightening.

TEL

Another one of those times when you just have to stand back and think how fortunate we are.....a tragic accident that nobody could possibly forsee. RIP

Salad

Very sad, not much older than me and similar aged kids.
I'm going ski-ing soon and I shall be wearing a helmet for the first time.
RIP.

March51

Yes,tragic is the word. I hope the press give the family a break and leave them alone in their bereavement.RIP

bigstemarra

This is shocking as it is the sort of thing that could happen to anyone. You don't really think much of it when you bang your bonce, do you?

It's a real shame. I always liked Neeson as well and he must be in a terrible place right now (not to mention their kids).

RIP.

C_f_W

I feel very sad about this too. Despite her family history and her profession she always came across as a completely humble, grounded person. Judi Dench got it spot on when she called luminous - she had a very unique and rare beauty.

I've always had a lot of time for liam Neeson too, he strikes me as being a decent bloke and he nor his sons deserve this.

Yet another good one is taken from us.

RIP

vancouveraddick

RIP - I don't wear a helmet whilst I ski (which being over here is a lot) and this has made me think I should reconsider.

Chirpy Red

Oh come on!
I was very saddened by this - see above - but I have skied for over 25 years and have never even thought of wearing a helmet, and never will.
Don't forget she was a novice and having lessons, a bit different.

Can-addick

As an experienced skiier Chirpy, I trust you'd agree that things can happen to anyone on a hill that couldn't possibly be controlled or even foreseen...just one example is the need to protect yourself from the other guy who isn't as good on skis as you might be. I've been snowboarding for about 7 years now, and I'm grateful that I got into the habit of wearing a helmet because you're more likely to topple over backward when learning and it just seemed like what one did. I can't even imagine being on a ski hill (or God forbid, a bike) without a helmet. Such minimal, if any inconvenience for such enormous benefit. They're cheap, light, look good and keep you head and ears warm in the coldest Rocky Mountain wind...I can't think of one rational argument against, and the only solace that can be taken from this horrible tragedy is the kind of introspection seen in vancouveraddick's post above, and generally increased awareness of traumatic brain injury and bleeds in particular.

Oakster

[cite]Posted By: Chirpy Red[/cite]Oh come on!
I was very saddened by this - see above - but I have skied for over 25 years and have never even thought of wearing a helmet, and never will.
Don't forget she was a novice and having lessons, a bit different.

Never read so much rubbish in my life.

I ski & snowboard nearly every weekend more often than not back country, i probably fall over once a season if that - yet I i would never dream of setting foot on the slopes without a helmet.

It's not only to do with falling over, its to do with reckless, out of control fools careering into me at 50mph - in my opinion it should be absolutely mandatory to wear helmets when skiing - just as it shoudl be to carry transceivers/probes/shovels etc when back country.

It doesn't matter if you are a novice or the best skier in the world - it only takes one slip & your head hitting a rock or ice - would you drive a motorbike at 50mph without a helmet? The impact of your skull on that hard surface is the same.

People who don't wear helmets should be forced to pay the full cost of any medical bills associated with their treatment.

EGAddick

As an experienced skier myself I can't agree that it should be mandatory for people to wear ski helmets. I wore one as a child right up until I was 18 but have not worn one since. When I was a kid you hardly saw anyone wearing a helmet (young and old) it's only been recently that people have taken to them and I think in some cases it encourages some prats to ski even more recklessly especially on the pistes. I have done a lot of ski touring in recent years and wouldn't consider taking a helmet with me as it is non-essential item/weight and I find them restrictive anyway.

Lets face it in this case Natasha Richardson fell over, got up and an hour later reported having bad headaches etc. She could have fallen over anywhere and still hurt herself just as badly. Novice or not anyone can fall and hit their heads in seemingly innocuous incidents and later on incur significant trauma to the brain. It's unlikely but does happen, tragically so in this case.

jimmymelrose

I live near ski slopes and never see any adults wearing a helmet, and I've never worn one myself.

I have wondered why this is so, however. Didn't know that they are actually available.

Having said that, she hit her head on a nursery slope. She can't have been going very fast. Perhaps she already had a problem.

InspectorSands

Only on a Charlton fans' message board could a thread musing on the awful and untimely loss of a talented and popular actress be turned into a load of "well, nobody's telling *me* to wear a helmet on a ski slope" pile of guff. It's like Littlejohn gone mad.

buckshee

was listening to a discussion on the parry and townsend show on talksport the other day regarding all this and that very day went out and bought myself a helmet for the pushbike after hearing a story about a guy who was cycling along at 5mph and came off his bike and now has brain damage .He owned his own company and because of the accident the firm has gone bust and all his employees lost their jobs.

The missus had a good old laugh about it until I told her she'd probably prefer me to look silly than whipe my harris for the rest of my life