<p>Another one of these “I’m o.k.” type accidents happened Mon at H’s plant. A man was connecting two high-pressure hoses, when they came apart and the pressure knocked him down and shattered the face-shield he was wearing. He got up, saying he was fine, but within a short time he was complaining about breathing difficulties. They called for an ambulance, but the hospital decided to send a life flight helicopter from a larger hospital. Good thing they did that because within 5 minutes of arriving at the hospital, he completely stopped breathing. Apparently he was hit in the neck and face and his neck had started swelling and closed off his airway. I’m happy to report that he just came out of an induced coma today and is doing better. And after all this happened, H headed to Cinci for the funeral of a guy who slipped on black ice two weeks ago.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ah, youth. It may sound silly coming from someone who doesn’t know your daughter, but it brought tears to my eyes to read that.</p>
<p>When my son was 7, he was riding his bike on the sidewalk and a minivan jumped the curb and my son skidded into the side of the van. He dented the door with his helmet, which was broken into four pieces. He broke his shoulder and upper arm. No concussion. Had all the scans and the arm/shoulder healed nicely. Docs said helmet obviously saved his life. Damage to minivan: over $1000, plus my son’s medical bills. </p>
<p>Ironically, the driver of the van had two kids in the car both under 2 years old, neither in a car seat.</p>
<p>When I used to ride horses my friend was trail riding after a lesson, her young 17H horse spooked and when he raced back to the barn, he made a very sharp 90 degree turn and she did not, she went right into a 4x4 fence post about 15 feet away, her helmet was shattered, but she was ‘fine’…she hurt like heck, but her brain was fine. It was pretty scary</p>
<p>AOL online news is now reporting that Natasha has died.</p>
<p>CNN & BBC say that also. How sad.</p>
<p>so tragic.</p>
<p>I feel so sad. Our family has watched Parent Trap a million billion times.</p>
<p>Prayers for her family.</p>
<p>abasket - I wondered if Lindsay Lohan somehow remained in touch with Richardson over the years. My bet is that while they were filming, Richardson was more of a positive influential parent figure than Lohan’s own parents.</p>
<p>I wondered that also. Lindsay seems so fragile anymore that I wondered if she had remained close to Natasha and how upsetting this will also be for her.</p>
<p>So sad, so tragic… I wish the swarms of reporters would leave the grieving family alone.</p>
<p>I was afraid this would be the news. </p>
<p>It is terribly tragic and very sad. </p>
<p>It is a loss for the theater and film world of a very fine actress. </p>
<p>But most of all, it is such a loss for her husband, and particularly for her two sons. She died far too young.</p>
<p>So sad. Hopefully more and more skiiers will wear ski helmets. I’ve always made my kids wear helmets, but this year was the first year I implored my DH to wear one, and I did as well. This really hits close to home (bad choice of words… but you know what I mean)…</p>
<p>While we are championing the “wear a helmet” cause, please, PLEASE add motorcycles to the list. </p>
<p>And to whoever asked, Sonny Bono died at Heavenly (ironic-- name of the ski resort) and Michael Kennedy at Aspen. I don’t believe either was wearing a helmet. </p>
<p>I just heard them mention on the news that Richardson was only 45 yrs old. Such sadness for her family. </p>
<p>I hadn’t heard about the phyiscs of landing on a flat vs steeper slope, but it makes sense,e specially if an inesperienced skiier might have picked up too much speed (just hypothesizing). I also wonder what the conditions were. Was the slope icy? Hitting an icy rather than powdery surface would make a difference as well.</p>
<p>We just returned from skiing last week. My H got hit in the face (above his goggles and below his helmet) with a tree branch as he was tree skiing (the slopes were were at is known for its beautiful tree skiing) - he got 3 gashed onhis forehead, over his eye and on his temple, but fortunately was otherwise ok. many of you have followed the trials and tribulations of my s’s ski accidents (broken nose, femur and collarbone). They always wear helmets. Please, PLEASE wear helmets. Natasha, rest in peace.</p>
<p>jym - think about it. Even if you were just standing there, not moving, and fell backwards and hit your head, the impact would be much greater than if you were heading downhill, and fell, and rolled or tumbled a couple of times. Those bunny hills are relatively flat, in fact, they just have enough incline to get you moving slowly. Falling on the bunny hill (especially if just standing) is akin to falling on a hard floor. I think if she had any speed, she might have rolled a bit when she fell. Either way, helmets sound like a good idea. Like I said, I really don’t remember seeing any helmets last time we went skiing.</p>
<p>makes sense, teriwtt-- just hadnt thought about the andlesof the falls. Sometimes people fall uphill to, Ouch on the head.</p>
<p>I was just discussing helmets with a friend of mine, whose H finally convinced her that they should both buy and wear helmets. She actually found it to be quitewarm and comfortable. They are certainly no fashion statement, but who cares. When we were skiing last week, I continually pointed out to my H the skiiers with helmets, and my H pointed out the ones without. I’d say, rough estimate, at least 50% are wearing helmets. Thats a big improvement. All the ski patrol wore them. I wish more snowboarders would wear them-- they FLY down the mountain. I’ve been bowled over by a snowboarder on more than one occasion- once while standing perfectly still at the edge of the slope.</p>
<p>So sad. She was a fine actress and seemed to have had a good life. Life is so brief anyway that the death of someone so young seems like piling on.</p>
<p>Apologies for the serious typos in post # 76. Meant to say I hadn’t thought about the ANGLES of the fall.</p>
<p>I am wondering, based on what has been disclosed so far, if she may have suffered a vertibrobasilar or possibly carotid artery dissection (tear). They can occur with even relatively minor injuries when the head is rotated and pushed upon or hit at he same time. Such a shame…</p>
<p>It is very sad news.</p>
<p>Brain injuries are so subtle and hard to identify sometimes. When we were kids, a boy in my class (maybe 11?) was playing pickup baseball with neighborhood kids and threw the bat. Hit a girl about eight. She seemed fine, but over dinner said she was feeling funny, passed out and died. Terrible story. Affected everyone in the area. The poor boy was never the same after that.</p>
<p>For myself, about 13 years ago, I was struck by a car while walking. Sustained (among other things) an initially undiagnosed concussion. It’s taken a long time to admit it to myself, but the fact is I have lingering and permanent effects from that–memory problems, especially word retrieval, and concentration loss. It’s subtle enough that I can cover it most of the time, but very frustrating to me. And every once in a while, I’ll use a totally wrong word without realizing it, till someone is looking at me funny.</p>