NEW YORK — A family friend painted a grim picture when asked about Natasha Richardson recovering from a skiing accident Monday in Canada.
"There is no chance," the friend told People late Tuesday. "It is a fact that her heart is beating but she is brain dead."
The 45-year-old British actress suffered a traumatic brain injury while at the ski resort of Mont Tremblant, located about 75 miles from Montreal. Richardson was taking a private ski lesson when she fell on a beginners trail. At first, she appeared to be fine after the accident.
"She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor," the resort said in a statement to The Associated Press.
About an hour after her fall, Richardson began feeling ill and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital.
Richardson's husband, actor Liam Neeson, 56, was in Toronto filming the movie "Chloe" when news of the accident reached him. A rep for the film told CTV that he immediately rushed to his wife's side.
Richardson was reportedly flown Tuesday afternoon from Montreal to a New York hospital, where friends and family members are said to have gathered for a vigil. A reporter from the Toronto Star witnessed the scene as Richardson was first transported into the ambulance, describing her husband as distraught as she was loaded inside wrapped in blankets and with tubes covering her face.
Richardson and Neeson married in 1994 and have two sons, Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12.
Richardson, who won a Tony award in 1998 for her performance in the musical "Cabaret," is the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and late producer Tony Richardson.
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