Ambulance called for Natasha Richardson was turned away

The first ambulance despatched to the actress Natasha Richardson was turned away in a fateful decision that could have cost the actress her life. A post-mortem by the New York medical examiner concluded tonight that Richardson, 45, died of “epidural haematoma due to blunt impact to the head” after falling during a skiing lesson in Canada on Monday. The Tony Award-winning actress, part of a celebrated British acting dynasty, was declared dead at 19:26 pm New York time (23:26 GMT) on Wednesday night after she was removed from life support. The death certificate listed the cause as “accidental.” Richardson fell in slushy snow during a lesson on a nursery slope at the Mont Tremblant resort, 80 miles north-west of Montreal. She did not hit any obstacle and no-one else was involved, the resort said. The instructor saw the fall and, following protocol, summoned the ski patrol to check her out. The actress, who was not wearing a helmet, laughed off the tumble, however. She said she did not want to see a doctor and was escorted back to her hotel room, where the ski patrol again recommended she see a doctor. An hour later, she complained of a headache and was rushed to hospital. Vital time may have been lost in treating bleeding inside her skull that pressed on her brain, doctors said. She appears to have suffered from what is known as “walk-and-die” syndrome in which the patient enjoys a lucid interval after a trauma to the head, but then suffers internal bleeding that kills by pressing on the brain.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5940897.ece