Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog
Natasha Richardson, who died this month from a traumatic brain injury, was just 45-years-old. The movie star was young, talented, had a loving husband and two young boys, and no one expected her to die so suddenly and unexpectedly—after a fall on a beginner’s ski slope.
Richardson struck her head, and although there are reports that she initially turned down an offer for medical attention—it wouldn’t be until a second ambulance arrived at the ski resort that she was finally whisked away—one can’t help but wonder how her life’s story would have turned out if she or someone else had known enough to insist that she receive medical care immediately.
Autopsy reports indicate that the movie star died because of a blunt impact to the head that resulted in an epidural hematoma. This kind traumatic brain injury can cause the brain to swell and bleeding to occur. It can also take awhile for symptoms of this TBI to appear, and if too much time passes, this injury can prove fatal.
Common causes of an epidural hematoma include fall accidents, assault incidents, motor vehicle crashes, motorcycle accidents, and slip accidents. Of course, there are other kinds of traumatic brain injuries that can also occur from these kinds of accidents.
The sooner someone with a TBI or another kind of head injury gets medical attention—even if the injury appears mild or minor—the faster any potentially serious condition can be diagnosed and the more time there will be to prevent the injury from becoming catastrophic or fatal.
A person who survives an accident with a serious brain injury could end up permanently impaired and debilitated and, depending on the seriousness of the TBI, require ongoing, costly medical care. The financial and emotional toll on the TBI patient and his or her family can be tragically life changing, which is why, if someone you love sustained a traumatic brain injury in an Oregon accident that occurred because another party was negligent, you should speak to a Portland personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
Richardson died during Brain Injury Awareness month.
911 Calls Show Urgency Of Richardson Fall, CBS News, March 31, 2009
Actress Natasha Richardson buried in Upstate New York, Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Brain Injury Awareness Month 2009
Brain Injury Association of America
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Contact Portland Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney Matt Kaplan to discuss your Oregon personal injury claim or wrongful death case. Your first consultation is free.
