Natasha Richardson's Life Support Turned Off or switched off

Natasha Richardson Off Life Support at Lenox Hill Hospital

The family of Natasha Richardson is reported to have taken her off life support Wednesday afternoon after a skiing accident left her brain dead. Richardson was surrounded by family including her mother Vanessa Redgrave, aunt Lynn Redgrave, husband Liam Neeson and her two sons Michael 13, and Daniel 12.

Richardson and her son Michael, 13, were at the Mont Tremblant resort, about 80 miles northwest of Montreal, taking ski lessons on Monday. The British-born actress fell on the bunny slope, turned down immediate medical help and joked about the fall with staffers, resort officials said. But an hour later, Richardson complained of horrible headaches and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Richardson's condition was very serious and her family was highly distressed, The New York Times reported, citing two people close to her family who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to reporters.

Through the afternoon we all realized that this wonderful, unusual star and actress was perhaps not dead and had been moved from Montreal to New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital. Liam, who had been filming in Toronto and had rushed to her side, was now in NYC with the children. I had been waiting for several days for a phone call from Vanessa Redgrave, who was coming to New York to give an award at the UN. The call, of course, never came. Everybody in the family — Liam, the two boys, Vanessa, Lynn Redgrave, Joely Richardson — have all been in the hospital with Natasha, and word is in at 1:30 PM WEDNESDAY they have taken Natasha off of life support. This is not unexpected. Insiders felt yesterday, on learning they were flying Natasha in to Lenox Hill, that this meant her condition was hopeless and they were just finding a place to be together with her and to say good-bye. As one insider remarked:"Nobody goes to Lenox Hill who is really sick; if she’ d had a chance to live, they’d have found another great brain hospital!" This is all just utterly horrible to write!