Natasha Richardson’s brain injury shows TBI dangers

Posted by Bruce Westbrook

March 18, 2009

As actress Natasha Richardson fights for life after a Monday skiing accident, her brain injury is a tragic reminder of the human brain’s vulnerability and the horrible chance, even after a small blow to the head, for TBI, or traumatic brain injury.

Such a head injury, however minor as in Richardson’s case, can produce catastrophic results, especially if veins around the brain are damaged and begin bleeding. Unlike other bodily organs, the brain is in a rigidly confined space — the skull — and if bleeding and swelling occur, there’s no room for the brain to expand as would, say, a swollen arm.

Confined swelling creates pressure, and that pressure can cut off the brain’s supply of oxygen, thus killing the brain. When a person is “brain dead,” that person, in effect, is deceased, even if respiration and circulation continue.

For Richardson, 45, the key factor could have been that she was not wearing a helmet while learning to ski on a moderate beginners’ slope in Canada where she fell and hit her head. Such helmets reportedly are not required on the slopes, but had she been wearing one, she might not have suffered such an injury. If that is the case, then it’s easy to conclude that helmets should be required for skiers’ own safety.

It’s also apparent that any head injury should be evaluated immediately by a medical professional. In Richardson’s case, the ski resort staff asked her to go to a hospital, and she declined, since her immediate response to the injury was good. But within an hour she complained of headaches — a common precursor to even worse TBI conditions — and was rushed to a hospital.

By then, it may have been too late. While no official word has been given on Richardson’s status in the New York hospital to which she was transferred, her condition seems extremely serious.

Again, any head injury, no matter how minor it may seem at first, should be assessed without delay by a medical professional. Through basic sensory tests and questions, it can easily be determined via brain injury symptoms if a dangerous condition may exist.

Richardson’s case strikes close to home, since this writer covered films for daily newspapers before joining Jim S. Adler & Associates and has long admired the actress, whom he has interviewed.

Yes, she has a strong lineage in acting via her British family, including her mother, actress Vanessa Redgrave, and her father, director Tony Richardson, Oscar winners for Julia and Tom Jones, respectively. But Natasha Richardson has long forged her own path on stage — winning a 1998 Tony award for Cabaret — and on screen, playing such diverse parts as a captive-turned-revolutionary in Patty Hearst; a titular parent alongside Houston-born Dennis Quaid in The Parent Trap; and a haughty socialite opposite Jennifer Lopez in the Cinderella-style story Maid in Manhattan.

Now she clings to life after a seemingly innocuous accident which has turned out to be much more.

After such a traumatic event, costs can be enormous to a victim and his or her family, including brain injury treatment and brain injury rehabilitation for survivors. If the injury was due to another person’s negligence, then that person should be held accountable for such costs. Victims have a legal right to full and just financial compensation.

Jim S. Adler & Associates has experienced and knowledgeable brain injury lawyers who can help ease that burden in such a difficult and trying time. But with increased vigilance and good fortune, for many brain injury sufferers, such times won’t occur.

NOTE: Natasha Richardson has died. She will be missed.

Share on Facebook