The year was 2009, and Liam Neeson was just completing his 15th year of marriage to his wife Natasha Richardson when tragedy struck the family. Neeson and Richardson, who are both actors, met in the year 1993, and they soon tied the knot in 1994.
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And they started a lovely family together as well, till Natasha met with a freak accident and passed away. Here’s what happened to Natasha, and what the last words exchanged between the couple were.
Natasha Richardson’s accident
After being in a skiing accident on March 18th, 2009, Richardson breathed her last in Mont Tremblant Resort, close to Montreal. She is supposed to have suffered a severe head injury while taking a beginner skiing lesson with their elder son - Michael. Natasha, who experienced a traumatic head injury, described her situation as having ‘taken a tumble in the show’, to her husband Liam.
Natasha initially fell on one of the beginner slopes and allegedly refused medical attention at the time of the accident. Instead, she wished to be escorted to her hotel room, wherein she called her husband Liam, who was filming in Toronto.
The aftermath of the fall
Three hours passed after Natasha’s accident, and she was rushed to the emergency room. It was then discovered that blood had been pooling into the actor’s brain, thus giving rise to fatal pressure, as per The Mirror.
By this time, Liam had darted to her bedside, and the doctor treating Natasha pulled out an X-ray and described it to Neeson by saying that it looked like a cartoon. And he also mentioned that Natasha was brain-dead. This diagnosis was tragic to the whole family, but it was declared that way, given the evidence.
Liam’s last words to Natasha
Liam, who was at Natasha’s bedside at a hospital in New York, was distraught by the news of her condition. And he had some heartfelt words to share with his wife at the time. According to The Mirror, Liam Neeson said the following words to his wife, as she lay there in her braindead state:
Sweetie, you're not coming back from this. You've banged your head. It’s…I don't know if you can hear me, but that's…this is what's gone down. We're bringing you back to New York. All your family and friends will come.
The family’s take on Natasha’s death
Needless to say, the whole family was devastated by Natasha’s tragic death due to her accident. The death especially affected Michael Richardson, who is the son of Neeson and Richardson. Michael, who was just 13 when he lost his mother, said that the tragedy messed up his mind, given that he was a mother’s boy, and he regarded her as his best friend. He took on his mom’s surname to honor her life and as a way to remember his mother through a meaningful homage.
Michael, who is now an actor, said the following in a conversation with Vanity Fair about his mother:
You watch her in The Parent Trap, and she’s kind of playing the perfect mother…That’s reminiscent of how she was as a mom. She was not a checked-out superstar. She was involved and engaged and wonderful and loving. I mean, I think of her every day. So I can’t imagine being her son and losing her. It’s heartbreaking to me still.
He also said the following as his way of honoring Natasha Richardson during the course of his adult life:
I think as I get older, keeping my mom more in mind and doing things to honor her allows me to remember her and to go through the grief, and properly heal.
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Sources:
The Mirror: Liam Neeson’s last words to wife Natasha Richardson before her sudden death in 2009
Us Weekly: Liam Neeson’s Sweetest Quotes About His Late Wife Natasha Richardson Over the Years
