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MONTREAL: Acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson suffered a serious head injury while skiing in Canada and was transferred on Tuesday to the United States, hospital officials and media said.
"She was transferred at the request of the family," said Josee-Michelle Simard, a spokeswoman for Sacre-Coeur hospital in Montreal, where the 45-year-old actress was treated following Monday's accident.
Richardson was flown via private jet to New York accompanied by her husband, actor Liam Neeson, 56, to be with family members, said media reports.
The couple's two young sons, Michael and Daniel, are believed to be with relatives in New York.
Richardson's precise medical condition at the time of her release from the Canadian hospital was not immediately clear.
"We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details," Kika Markham, Richardson's aunt, told the British media. "We are very concerned."
The British-born actress is the wife of Irish actor Neeson and the daughter of British stage and screen legend Vanessa Redgrave, 72.
Monday's mishap occurred at the Mont Tremblant ski resort where Richardson had a fall during a ski lesson on a beginner's trail, according to a statement by the Mont Tremblant ski resort in the Laurentian Mountains.
"She did not show any visible sign of injury," the resort said. But following strict procedures, the local ski patrol and her instructor accompanied her back to her hotel and "insisted she should see a doctor."
An hour later, Richardson "was not feeling good" and an ambulance was called to take her to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Ste-Agathe, Quebec. She was later transferred to Sacre-Coeur hospital in Montreal, the resort said.
Officials said the family was to make a statement on Wednesday from the United States.
The website IrishCentral.com, which first broke the story, quoted a Montreal hospital insider as saying that Richardson had suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Neeson, who has been married to Richardson since 1994, flew to be with his wife following the accident from a movie set in Toronto, a publicist for the film "Chloe" told local media.
In 1998, Richardson won a Tony award for her role in the musical "Cabaret," and she has appeared in films "The Parent Trap," "Maid in Manhattan" and "Evening."
Other movie credits include "The Handmaid's Tale," "Gothic," "A Month in the Country," and "Nell" in which she appeared with Neeson, whose most celebrated screen turn was in the movie "Schindler's List."
Born in May 1963, Richardson was educated in London and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in the city, which has groomed a host of British actors.
Her extensive stage experience includes a number of Shakespearean roles, among them Ophelia in "Hamlet" and Helena in "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Her famed Redgrave clan is one of Britain's most famous stage and screen dynasties.
Vanessa, Corin and their sister Lynn are the children of Rachel Kempson and Michael Redgrave, who played in such British classics as the 1938 "The Lady Vanishes" and 1969 "Goodbye, Mr Chips."
Natasha Richardson's sister Joely is also an actress, who is currently starring in the television drama Nip/Tuck. - AFP/il/de
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